Podcasts about kaitlin mcgreyes

It's time to challenge the outdated ritual of baby showers—and reveal how well‑intentioned gifts are actually leaving new moms stranded. Founder of BeHerVillage.com, Kaitlin McGreyes, flips the script on registries, turning them into funding for real postpartum care.Key TakeawaysThe Disconnect Between Celebration and SupportMoms are often praised for heroic feats—like that doctor delivering a baby while in labor herself—but once the party ends, they're left to manage on their own.BeHerVillage's MissionInstead of gadgets and onesies, Kaitlin's platform empowers friends and family to fund doulas, home‑cooked meals, lactation consultants, mental‑health support, and more.The Power of Community Over ClutterA clean load of laundry, a nutritious meal delivered to your door, or a trusted ear can make all the difference in those overwhelming early weeks.What You'll LearnHow traditional baby‑shower registries became a conveyor belt of stuff—and why that model fails new parents.Real stories of mothers whose postpartum journeys were transformed by genuine community care.Practical ways you can “gift” support the next time you celebrate a new parent, or anyone.Get InvolvedVisit BeHerVillage.com to see how you can fund meaningful care.Share this episode with someone who needs a reminder that support is the greatest gift.Email us your feedback, story ideas, or questions: enoughismpodcast@gmail.com

Send us a textIn this episode, BeHerVillage founder, Kaitlin McGreyes, recounts her early motherhood experiences. From Kaitlin:I'm rewinding to a moment etched into my memory: just three days postpartum, sitting in my nursery, tears streaming down my face. Despite having every baby product imaginable, I was struggling—clueless about breastfeeding, unsure how to simply shower, and terrified I wasn't doing motherhood “right.”This personal story sets the stage for why I created BeHerVillage. As a new mom and a doula, I realized it wasn't more things we needed, but more support. We deserve real human help, education, and reassurance during those vulnerable newborn days. In this episode, I unpack the emotions of that pivotal moment, explore how the lack of tangible support in postpartum care inspired me, and share how BeHerVillage aims to fill that gap.Tune in for an authentic conversation that reminds us all: you're not failing if it feels hard—you're human. And there's a better way to get the help you need.Start your BeHerVillage Registry today.Follow us on InstagramSubscribe to The BeHerVillage Podcast and never miss an episode. Download our FREE Baby Prep ChecklistSend us a text and let us know what you thought!

In this episode of The Be Her Village Podcast, Kaitlin McGreyes sits down with Francie Webb, doula, IBCLC, and owner of Go Milk Yourself, to discuss how expectant parents can prepare for breastfeeding. They cover: The importance of taking a breastfeeding class during pregnancyWhy connecting with a trusted lactation professional mattersHow to choose a pediatrician that aligns with your feeding goalsSetting yourself up for a positive birth experienceCreating boundaries and expectations with family and friendsWhether you're expecting or currently navigating breastfeeding challenges, this episode is a must-listen for every parent. Start your BeHerVillage registry.Follow us on InstagramSubscribe to The BeHerVillage Podcast and never miss an episode. Download our FREE Feeding Plan ChecklistVisit Go Milk Yourself

What so you need on your registry that will leave you feeling prepared for your newborn? Today we are joined be Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of BeHerVillage who is changing the narrative about how we prepare for parenthood and how being intentional about how we create our baby registry can make all the difference.We will cover:Biggest mistakes most people make when making their baby registries How to prepare your family for the transition of parenthoodEssentials families should add to their registryHow to get started with creating a registry that will work for youYou can learn more about Be Her Village and Kaitlin's work at:Website:   https://behervillage.com/ Instagram: @behervillage TikTok: @behervillage Don't forget to check out the blog postResources mentioned:>>  FREE Ideal Registry Quiz and Personalized Guide>>  A Path to A Powerful Birth Class *you can add it to your registry! ;)************************Get 20% off your first monthly subscription with NEEDED Vitamins 

When it comes to postpartum, EVERYONE needs support. And even after accepting that you WILL need the help, it can be tricky figuring out how to ask for it, especially when most of our friends and family members don't really know how to help (nor have the time!). Kaitlin McGreyes talks with Adriana about how combining community help with professional support can set you up for the perfect combination of care and knowledge to have the amazing postpartum experience you deserve. She also shares insightful tips on how to afford it! Sponsor offers - TIME SENSITIVE! NEEDED - Get 20% off at ThisIsNeeded.com with code BIRTHFULJENNI KAYNE - Get 15% off at JenniKayne.com/Birthful with code BIRTHFUL15AQUATRU - Get 20% off at AquaTru.com with code BIRTHFULACORNS - Go to acorns.com/birthful to start investing for your future today!FAMILYALBUM APP - Download the app for free, wherever you get your apps! DR. MOM BUTT BALM - Go to DrMomButtBalm.com to learn morePAIRED - Practice love every day with Paired, the #1 app for couples. Download the app at https://www.paired.com/BIRTHFUL Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.  If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Letting Go of "Mom Guilt" and our episode All About Postpartum DoulasYou can connect with Kaitlin on Instagram @behervillage, and You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com. If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for Adriana's Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course at BirthfulCourses.com.Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.Our Sponsors:* Check out Acorns: acorns.com/birthful* Check out Dr. Mom Butt Balm: drmombuttbalm.com* Practice love every day with Paired, the #1 app for couples. Download the app at https://www.paired.com/BIRTHFUL Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/birthful/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

This episode was truly special, I had been admiring all the amazing work Kaitlin has been doing from afar and hesitated to reach out to her (hello imposter syndrome) because she was "too big" and wouldn't want to be on my podcast... Well, she actually reached out to me and boy am I glad she did!!

In this episode Kaitlyn McGreyes, founder of Be her Village, and I sit down and talk about ALL things building your business, but not in the usual way I do!We will really break down the mental, emotional and spiritual ways to create the foundation of your business so it serves you while you are serving the perinatal community.  Out of this way of thinking, The Birthworker Retreat was born!  The Birthworker Retreat is a few days in sunny Florida in January 2024 (and every January after!) that will be life changing for the birth workers attending.  We will be focusing on lifting up and refilling everyone so they can take the best care of their clients while simultaneously prioritizing themselves.  You will feel revitalized by the end of this episode because you'll learn exactly what your business needs from you and how to create the roadmap to get you there.Check out The Birth Worker Retreat here: https://mailchi.mp/behervillage/birthworkerretreatLearn more about Be Her Village here: https://behervillage.com/You can find me at:www.hiptoheart.comhttps://www.instagram.com/hiptoheartRegister for the Hip to Heart Birth Boss Academy here:https://www.hiptoheart.com/birth-boss-academyApply to the Hip to Heart Agency Masterclass here:https://www.hiptoheart.com/agency-transition-classJoin my Facebook group for Birth + Postpartum Professionalshttps://www.facebook.com/groups/businessforbirth

Kaitlin McGreyes is on a mission to teach parents what they really need for newborn life and the parenthood journey, without selling them baby clothes. Her brilliant company, Be Her Village, connects birth workers to parents, so that the experts can educate parents and leave them with a reimagined registry--one that's robust with all the items they actually need! Tune in to hear all about Kaitlin's journey into motherhood, her empowering birth stories and her *why* driving Be Her Village. Follow on IG: @behervillage www.behervillage.com __________________ Join ⁠(FREE) Supermama Support Circles⁠ ⁠Purchase Nip Gloss ⁠with code THANKYOU20 Want commission + discounts to kozēkozē products? ⁠ Apply here ⁠to be an affiliate and kozēkozē insider :) Sign-up for the kozēkozē newsletter ⁠⁠here.⁠⁠ Connect with our host on IG: @garrettnwood Follow kozēkozē on IG: @kozekozemama Podcast Instagram for details on past guests: @kozekozepodcast Follow Garrett on TikTok: @kozekozemama If you like Garrett's voice, check out her ⁠meditations here.⁠ email garrett: garrettkusmierz@kozekoze.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kozekoze/message

Listeners are treated to an enlightening conversation with Kaitlin from Be Her Village, an organization dedicated to nurturing strong support networks for expectant and new mothers. Through this insightful interview, Sarah and Kaitlin discuss the pivotal importance of emotional and physical support, shedding light on how individuals such as doulas and pelvic floor therapists play a crucial role in this transformative chapter of life. >> First Trimester Nutrition Guide >> #1 FREE Postpartum Download >> Pregnancy Workbook Connect more with Entering Motherhood: Instagram: entering_motherhood and sarah_marie_bilger Facebook: EnteringMotherhood Services: Birth and Postpartum Services Email: enteringmotherhood@gmail.com Official Affiliates of the Podcast: LoveHeld Kindred Bravely Postpartum University FOND Bone Broth (ENTERINGMOTHERHOOD for 10% off) Hypnobabies (MOTHERHOOD20 for 20% off)  FitNest Mama (ENTERINGMOTHERHOOD20 for 20% discount)

When it comes to postpartum, EVERYONE needs support. And even after accepting that you WILL need the help, it can be tricky figuring out how to ask for it, especially when most of our friends and family members don't really know how to help (nor have the time!). Kaitlin McGreyes talks with Adriana about how combining community help with professional support can set you up for the perfect combination of care and knowledge to have the amazing postpartum experience you deserve. She also shares insightful tips on how to afford it! Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.  If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Letting Go of "Mom Guilt" and our episode All About Postpartum DoulasYou can connect with Kaitlin on Instagram @behervillage, and You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com. If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign-up for Adriana's Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course.Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.Our Sponsors:* Visit HomeThreads.com/BIRTHFUL today and get a 15% off code for your first order!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/birthful/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

“Doulas are great. How do I get one?”‘Hope you're rich, bye!'“Wait, now I can't have one?”We are so happy to be joined once again by our friend, Kaitlin McGreyes with Be Her Village. Meagan and Kaitlin talk all about the benefits of doulas and what they love most about being doulas themselves. Not only that– they also talk about how to actually afford one. Every mama deserves continuous support during her labor and birth. Kaitlin has created the platform to make it a reality. Additional LinksBe Her Village WebsiteHow to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsThe VBAC Link Facebook CommunityFull Transcript under Episode DetailsMeagan: Hello, hello you guys. It is Meagan from The VBAC Link and guess what? We have our friend, Kaitlin from Be Her Village, back. I am so excited to have you, Kaitlin. Kaitlin: I am so excited to be here, Meagan. Thank you so much for having me. I love this little friendship that has burst out of our VBAC love and our desire to get everybody their VBAC. Meagan: I know. Our passion around birth. It's just so cool to see how people from different parts of the world can connect so deeply. I just adore you and love you and I do hope that I get to meet you one day soon in person. Kaitlin: Oh, for sure. We're going to make that happen. Meagan: Oh my gosh. Last time we shared her VBAC story and this time we are going to be talking about doulas. So if you didn't know, we are both doulas. Obviously, we are very passionate and heavily involved in the birth world. We are going to talk about, okay great. That's wonderful. We know about doulas. Now what do we do? We are going to talk about that today so if you are wanting to know more about doulas, the stats around doulas, and how to pay for a doula, you want to hold on and listen to this episode. Review of the WeekBut of course, I have a Review of the Week so we are going to get into that and then we are going to talk all about wonderful doulas. This review is from txliberty92 and it was in 2020 and it says, “From Fear to Confidence.” It says, “When I found out that I was pregnant for the second time, I instantly felt so confused about how to birth this baby. I had heard so much conflicting advice about repeat cesareans and just wanted to hear the facts and hear from people who had been down this road before. I am now 36 weeks into my pregnancy and prepared and totally confident in my upcoming VBAC. I don't know if I would ever have gotten to this point without this podcast and community.” Oh, that makes me so happy. Txliberty92, if you are still listening, because that was in 2020. That was three years ago. If you are still listening, write us at info@thevbaclink.com and tell us how things went. And hey, we want to share your story. Be Her VillageMeagan: Okay. Let's talk about doulas. First of all, I think it's fun to talk about why us doulas become a doula because I know that when I was in high school, I knew I loved babies. I always wanted to babysit. I always wanted to be close to a baby, holding a baby, and then through high school, I was like, “I would love to be a labor and delivery nurse,” because hello, they get to be close to babies and hold babies all of the time, right? And then I started having babies of my own and learned more. I decided that I did love the idea of becoming a labor and delivery nurse but to be honest, I hate math. That's literally one of the reasons why I decided not to become a labor and delivery nurse because they have to do so much math. Kaitlin: There is so much math in nursing, yes. Meagan: So much math and I just hate it so much. For those listening, you guys, I actually had to take Math 1010 three times. Kaitlin: Oh my goodness. Meagan: That is how much I hate math. I hate it so bad. I suck at it. I hate remembering it and still to this day, I've been a doula for over 8 years and I still have a hard time. I have to Google how to calculate mpu's every single time because I hate math. So that is something that steered me away, but the thought of being able to love and support and educate and hold space for somebody and not do the math–Kaitlin: Sign me up. Meagan: It sounded amazing. It sounded so amazing. So through my first birth, after my undesired, unplanned C-section, I definitely had more of a passion for birth, and then after my repeat and learning more about doulas, I was like, “Yeah. This is it.” I remember the fire lit inside of me that day just like, “This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to love people. I'm going to support people. I'm going to educate people and let them know what their options are.” I have loved it ever since and I am so glad to be here today. So where did your fire ignite?Kaitlin: Oh my goodness. My fire ignited from my VBAC actually. I love that your story was like, “I always knew that I wanted to work with babies and mamas.” I had no idea. I was a special ed teacher in New York City. My husband still works as a special ed teacher in the school where we met when we were 22. That was the path. It was getting out at 3:00, working with kids, and feeling good. It was not being a maternal healthcare advocate at all. It was not doula work. It was not changing the baby industry. It was just not any of that. But then I went and I had a baby. My first birth, as you can listen to on the other episode, was on a spectrum from underwhelming on some days. I would reflect that it was underwhelming and other days, it was full-blown traumatic. It really depends on where I am in my head space. But it was kind of awful and the C-section wasn't what was awful about it. It was how people treated me. It was the powerlessness. It was being dictated to and people making decisions around me and not acknowledging me as a human being and as an adult, grown-ass woman who could make decisions about myself and my body. Meagan: We're having another human, right? Kaitlin: Right? How dare they. How dare they disempower me so quickly and then less than two years later, I had this incredibly different VBAC experience that was transformative before the baby ever came out of me. It had nothing to do with the vaginal side of it although that was amazing and kickass and I totally recommend it. But it was really about how I went in. I researched. I decided for myself that I wanted a VBAC first off. I hired a doula. I hired a VBAC-supportive provider, a doctor actually, and I just walked into that birth powerful and in charge. I ended up having a vaginal birth which was spectacular but that was the fire in me. It was sort of, “Wait a minute. How can I have two completely opposite experiences over the past two years?” So that was where I was just like, “I think the doula was a big part of it,” because I took childbirth education. I hired midwives. I did the things I was supposed to do and the doula, having someone in the moment when you're in that crucible where you're just being challenged and tested and you're in crisis, for many of us, and where you have this deep desire for your baby to be safe and for you to be safe yet you know. You know because you're listening to The VBAC Link. You know that this system is sort of rigged against us. How do you make sense of all that? The answer for me was in my doula. I knew that I needed to become a doula so that I could help more people. I have to be totally transparent. I definitely started out with a little bit of a savior complex. I was like, “If you hire me, I can save you from trauma,” which is not true or healthy for any of us. Meagan: It was probably you coping with your trauma. Kaitlin: Absolutely. There was this idea that my doula saved me in my birth so I could save somebody else. But it's true in that sure, we can have an incredible impact but we can't save anybody. You can't just hire a doula and like, “Okay, that's it. It's done.” You have to hire a doula and work with them and ask questions and still be very much an active participant in your care. The doula is the tool to learn how to advocate. The doula is the tool to set yourself up for success and that was why I got into it because I just thought, “Man, I have had two completely opposite experiences and I want to help more people have the second one, have the empowered one, have the voice, have built the team around myself.” So I thought, “I'm going to be a doula.” Little did I know how that would all end up but it's just amazing. It's the best thing there is. Meagan: Yeah, exactly. I would have never told you when I was becoming a doula, or it was nine years ago in September. Right now when we're recording, it's almost June. So almost nine years and I would have never said, “Oh yeah, in nine years, I'm going to have a podcast and be a VBAC advocate and educator and all of these things.” I never would have guessed that, but man. I am so grateful for this journey and where it's led us. You know, we talked about that. Doulas are there to help you. They're not there to rescue you. I think sometimes even I would say if I would be really honest. I was kind of like that too. I would have a client where they would be going in having these really deep goals and I was like, “I am going to make sure that happens.” I would go in and then sometimes if they didn't happen or if births went differently or we had unexpected events or something like that, I remember going home and I remember feeling like I failed as a doula. I felt like I failed them. Kaitlin: Yeah. Oh, it's a horrible feeling. Meagan: A really bad feeling. For your birth workers listening, it's important to know that you are there and you love your clients but we can't save everyone. Just like the clients that are hiring us need to know that we're not there to save but we're there to help educate, guide, love, and help you facilitate the things that you need along the way. It's just an extra crutch. Kaitlin: Yeah. I feel like it's really the work of labor and birth happens in the pregnancy. That's why you should get your doula as early as you can because it is in your doula's ability to help understand what your true desires are and help keep you connected to them because one of the things so many of us do and I'm speaking really about myself here too. I'm projecting my own experience. We abandon ourselves. We know what we want. We know that we want XYZ for our birth and then we sacrifice ourselves because as mothers, this is what we do. We sacrifice our time and our energy and our bodies for our babies but that gets used against us sometimes. It's really great to have somebody dedicated to your team that can sort of continue guiding the entire experience back to you back to those original goals, back to that original desire, and reminding you of what is possible and helping you stick to that. Then if you have to shift away from it, they are helping you navigate that shift in a way that feels intentional and purposeful and that you are emotionally able to shift as well so that we avoid that feeling of, “I don't even know what happened. I felt like I got hit by a bus and now I have a baby and I'm not sure how it happened.” We can't control a lot of things that happen in birth and doulas can't control them either which is a journey we go on as professionals. But we absolutely can help people navigate their births in a way that feels empowering regardless of the medical factors that end up happening. Meagan: Yeah. One of my favorite parts about being a doula is actually helping the partner along the way because I mean, obviously, Mom is the star of the show. She's having the baby and she's a very important person. She's definitely the MVP in that room but guess what? So are these partners. It's so fun like you said to circle around and help these partners feel more a part of birth as well because they sometimes have that same feeling where all of a sudden they are like, “Oh my gosh. My wife has a baby. What just happened?” So it's so nice to help dads and birth partners feel more involved and more connected and in control in a way of their own birth experience as well because it is their birth experience too. Kaitlin: Absolutely. I would argue that doulas are more for the partners in a lot of ways than they are for the birthing person. I personally didn't hire a doula for my first birth and I regret it. I can say pretty blatantly and bluntly that I regret it because I was afraid that it would take away the intimacy. I was afraid that it would be too many people and that I wouldn't have this intimate with my partner but what ended up actually happening is that my partner was so panicked by this mess of labor and by his wife being in so much pain. He wasn't of any help to me. I mean, he was as much help as he could have been. I'm not trying to attack my partner but he was really in this place of being a deer in the headlights. I was flipping out. He was a deer in the headlights. Everything was going wrong and he didn't have the tools. He had never done it before and that's in a birth that was very stressful. Even in a birth where you're not in a medically-induced place, it's still really hard to have the entirety of the responsibility of this experience to see your partner who is for the most part– this is a little stereotypical, but it's true– the women who are giving birth are making the lists and they're choosing the doctors. They're setting up their doulas. They're doing all of the things and they're making a birth plan. They're dotting every i and they're crossing every t and then what happens when they go into active labor? They retreat. Their minds retreat into their bodies and then all of a sudden, they're not communicating much of anything which can be really disorienting to a partner who feels to them that they need to keep their partner and their baby safe. This creates this feeling of alarm and can really not make the whole thing not feel good for everybody. When we have a doula that can come in for the partner and normalize the entire birthing experience whether it's in the hospital really medicalized or at home during early labor to transfer or have a home birth, it's so cool to have somebody who has walked this path before to be able to tell your partner, “Hey, this is all fine.” To have someone not react when you have somebody vomiting or contracting or shaking or all of these things that happen in the throes of labor, can be so relaxing. What is does is that it helps the partner then join his woman or his birthing person with intention and with this presence without all of the anxiety. It actually creates this beautiful expression of love. Not to mention, it's so cool to have someone show you how to touch your partner. One of them when I was teaching childbirth, I remember he was half joking but he was only half joking. He was like, “I just want you to teach me how far away to stand from her,” because he was just so nervous about the whole thing. It's like, imagine having someone come in and be like, “Hey, when she does that, just press here,” and it's like ooh. You get to learn and have a coach that helps you take on that care. It's the opposite of what so many of us think, myself included, was that a doula would replace my partner or get in the way. Really, what we do is help partners get more hands-on in such a helpful way. Meagan: Yeah. Exactly. My husband was really not keen on the idea of hiring a doula. He was like, “I'm not good enough? You're going to replace me?” That's where he snapped too. It's like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's not like that.” But it wasn't until we had a doula that he was like, “Whoa. Okay. I see what you do as a profession. I love this and we would never do this again without one.” So yeah. Doulas are there for you. They're there for your birthing partner, but guess what, you guys? They have actual stats on how impactful doulas can be. That is so cool to me to think that there are stats on the profession that I do. It sounds silly. Kaitlin: It's science. It's science. Passionate science. It's science. Meagan: There are actual statistics that what I do and what I love is helpful. Okay, so let's talk about them. Doulas can decrease pain medication so epidurals, fentanyl, and stuff like that by 10% which seems little, but if you think about all of the people giving birth. Kaitlin: 10% is huge. Meagan: 10% is huge if you have 24-hour labor or more. I was 42. Yeah. It's wonderful. There's a 38% decrease in the baby's risk of a low 5-minute APGAR score. Kaitlin: And that, I really want to pause on that because that's a really big deal. The APGAR is your sign of life. That's literally like do you have muscle tension? Are you pink which means there's oxygen coursing? Do you have a pulse? It's literally, is this baby thriving? The APGAR is an enormous measure and what's wild about this is that doulas are not medical providers. We're not medical providers. I can understand the epidural being applied. It's like, “Yeah, we have some tools and tricks up our sleeve to help you manage pain. That makes sense to me.” But influencing an APGAR? This means that if you hire a doula, a non-medical provider, whatever magic thing that we're doing is not really magic. It's just being present and helping people advocate for themselves, can have health impacts on your baby. That's wild. Who we're not touching, who we're not making medical decisions on. We have no medical training and yet we're impacting medical outcomes. That's a big, big, big deal. Meagan: It's pretty stinking huge. In this study, it doesn't necessarily single out doulas. It's continuous support which guess what doulas do? Continuous support. Kaitlin: Yeah. Well, no other provider is doing that. Meagan: No. I mean, they're in and they're out. Midwives and OBs, we love them all. Kaitlin: Yes, we do. Meagan: But they can't. They can't. Kaitlin: The system is not set up for continuous support. Absolutely. Meagan: They can't. They might be in there for a little bit but then they're in and they're out. So a 31% decrease in the risk of being dissatisfied with the birth experience. Kaitlin: That's a big one. That's a big one. Meagan: You guys! 31%. So one of the things that I love about being a doula– I mean, there are a lot of things– but I want someone to walk away from their birth, even if it didn't happen exactly how they wanted on their birth preference sheet or birth plan, to have a good experience. I want them to look back and say, “You know, I didn't get this or that or this happened and wasn't my ideal but overall, that was an amazing experience and I'm happy with my experience and I don't reference my experience as traumatic,” and just have an overall better view on their birth. Kaitlin: That's the thing though. We all know there are uncontrollables but having respect and feeling in control and feeling like you were part of your birth in a powerful way has ripple effects and implications well beyond that day of your birth. That's a huge metric and that's really, really important. Meagan: Yeah, huge. Another one, I think, that is really cool is that they have one showing continuous support such as a doula can shorten labor by 41 minutes. Kaitlin: Um, yes. They shorten labor. They shorten pushing time and reduce your risk of C-section or surgical birth, forceps, or vacuum, up to 25%. I think there is a saying and I'll have to find the quote but it's like, “If doulas were a drug, it would be unethical not to use them. It is clinically proven that continuous support by a non-family member– that's the doula part, right?Meagan: Yes. Yeah, I want to talk about that. Kaitlin: Yes. Continuous support by a non-family member is wildly impactful not just on your emotional experience but on your pushing time, your laboring time, your surgical birth risk, and your baby's health. It's really something that every single person in the United States deserves to have. I also want to just put this other steed in here that doulas are not the cause of surgical birth. We are not the cause of longer labors or lower APGARs. We're not the root cause of these issues but we are one of the solutions that our healthcare system is looking at. It's hard to talk about this because I do want to talk about how doulas are awesome. Everyone should have a doula. Meagan: They're seriously so awesome. Kaitlin: But we are very much also a bandaid on a broken system so yes. We're all currently giving birth in this system so we all should have access to doulas and that's part of the work that we're both doing is getting people connected to the doulas in their area and getting people connected to the funding to pay for them because that's sort of the elephant in the room. It's like, “Okay. All of these doulas are great and they're highly impactful.” You listen to a podcast like this and it's like, “Oh, that's great. How do I get one?” It's like, “They cost $2000 out of pocket. Hope you're rich, bye!” It's like, “Wait, now I can't have one?” It's all a really messy stage in the American maternal healthcare system that we're in right now, but the idea of having a doula or not having a doula when you think about what we all think about as we are preparing for our birth is, “What's best for my baby?” It's best for your baby to have a doula-supported birth both for their health and for their parents' health and their parents' experience. If anyone's on the fence about it, I hope that this will spark you into researching and talking and looking into it because there are a lot of misconceptions about doulas. They are for everybody even if you are planning a C-section. Even if you're listening to this podcast because you're like, “I don't know. VBAC's not for me.” Even if you're listening because you're a hater. Doulas are for everybody. They're for every kind of birth. You can plan a C-section. You can plan an epidural. You can plan a home birth. You can plan a birth in the middle of the woods and a doula can be really instrumental in being an advocate for yourself throughout that. Meagan: Yes, and I have been to scheduled C-sections. I had two and I wish that I had a doula to be there. So I love that you were talking about, “Okay, wait. We know that doulas are awesome.” Sorry guys, but doulas are awesome. Kaitlin: But we are. Meagan: Okay, where do we find them? There are websites all over. You can search “Doula Near Me”. The VBAC Link has specific VBAC doulas. You just go to thevbaclink.com and search “Find a Doula”. Type in your zip code and boom.But yeah, then what? Then what? How do we pay for $2000 doulas? Kaitlin: Yes. $2000. I'm in New York. $2000 is kind of run-of-the-mill. Medicaid is covering $1900. They're paying out for doulas. That's just the cost of doulas in New York. It really varies according to market but it's expensive. If it's an $800 doula, then that means the salaries in the area and the cost of housing and everything else in that area is low. I think it's safe to say that it is a heavy lift for most people to be able to access a doula and not just a doula, but all of the other care that comes with it as well. Postpartum care, tongue tie clips, breastfeeding care, pelvic floor care, maternal mental health. How many insurance companies are covering those things? There's just an enormous amount of funding that needs to happen in order for us to get the care that we deserve, the baseline of care that is happening in other countries for other mothers. One of the things that I love to talk about because it's sort of my life's work–Meagan: Listen how to solve this problem!Kaitlin: Drumroll, please! It's really your baby registry. It's using Be Her Village which is what I created. It's our platform, our baby registry platform so that you can use this event where all of your loved ones are opening their wallets. They're going to buy you thousands of dollars of gifts. Literally, the stats are 12 billion dollars divided by almost 4 million babies. It's a lot of money, a lot of money being spent by communities and well-meaning, well-intentioned, so generous– everyone wants to support a new mother. Everybody does. But right now, you can just go to baby stores and get a bunch of baby stuff. I don't know. We've all bought gifts before and I guess the swaddles can help but it's not the same as knowing that this gift is going to be impactful. One of the best things that we've done is we've created this platform where you can register for and find the practitioners in your area– the doulas, the lactation consultants, the pelvic floor specialists, the childbirth education, the acupuncturists– everybody who is supporting mothers in their birth and their postpartum time. You can find them and add them directly to your gift registry.Your friends and family can send you funds, cash, cold-hard cash to pay for them so it's totally flexible. We've had $165,000 funded on our platform so far just from communities who are generously opening up. It is such an amazing tool and funding opportunity that is already happening. We already know about baby showers. They're happening. We already know how to use a gift registry. What if we use it to pay for doulas? What if we use it to pay for that care? It's really, really cool so I just highly recommend every single person that's listening to go to Be Her Village. Click on our shopping guide. Click to get started. If you're a doula, add your services there. We're reclaiming the baby shower because the baby shower has become this place where we get carloads of boxes where we get all of this stuff. For me, I had to haul it back to my tiny apartment. I'm like, “Where am I going to fit all of this stuff for my baby?” I was living in New York City at the time and we're really saying, “You know what? Moms need stuff for their babies, sure. We'll find them and how to pay for them but there's this real need for care for ourselves.” It's like the conversation we just had. Who doesn't want a doula after listening to that? Who doesn't want a doula after knowing the stats of how impactful it can be? What better gift than to say to someone, “Hey, I'm going to help you find that so you can have a better health outcome and so you can have a better experience so your entire transition into motherhood can feel better than it would have otherwise.”Meagan: Absolutely. I'm going to pull it up. Seriously, it's so easy. This website is so incredible. You can go and create your registry. You can shop for services. You can give your gifts. Anything, right here. Also, there is virtual. That's something too. Doulas and birth workers, if you are offering virtual courses, help people find your course so they can get more educated. They can go more prepared. There are tons of virtual services. You can go in. There's childbirth education. There's a fourth trimester. There's restoring your body. There's heart and mind. You guys, this is such an amazing platform. To say I'm obsessed is an understatement. It really is an understatement to say how much I love this platform and how genius you are for creating this space for people. I didn't hire a doula with my second baby because get this. You're going to laugh out loud. Everyone's going to die. I thought that $150 was too much at the time. Kaitlin: Oh gosh. Meagan: We didn't have a lot of money. Kaitlin: I get it. Meagan: Yeah. Kaitlin: Meagan, it's all so backward. We have our babies when we're making the least amount of money. Then when we have a baby, for many of us, you stop working. At least temporarily, if not for a long time. Meagan: You do. Yes. Kaitlin: You get squeezed financially and at the earliest time in your career. You're barely established and who wants to wait to be established? I'm 39 and I don't even feel established right now. But it shouldn't be that we have to choose how much care we receive because of our income level or because of the disposable income that we have. It's not enough. My doula cost $1200 and that was nine years ago. It was the same amount as my mortgage. Meagan: Right. Kaitlin: It was a huge lift for us but luckily, I knew. I was so driven for the VBAC. Actually, my VBAC approach was to do everything the opposite. I didn't take the childbirth education. I hired an OB instead of a midwife. I hired a doula instead of not. But it's a big, heavy lift and we have to start thinking about not just, “Can I afford it?” but “I deserve this. How do I do this?” So we have to be more creative as a collective. It's really cool. This baby shower is sort of this untapped area that we've just been going to for decades. You go. You buy the stuff at the store. You give it to parents. They return half of it. It's this thing that we're doing on repeat and I think it's time for some serious evaluation about, “What do we actually need? What does a mother actually need?” If you were to make a list, which we do. We have the top ten things you need on your registry and none of them can be found at a store because it's all about support and care from the community which often looks like professionals as well as friends and loved ones and family members and neighbors. Meagan: Absolutely. I am so grateful for what you do. I encourage everyone. If you are looking to hire a doula and you're just not sure or the funds are hanging over or maybe a postpartum doula. Maybe you're really needing that support educationally or whatever it may be, this is the place for you to go and check out. You could even hire a birth photographer if you're wanting to capture your birth. I mean, you guys. They have everything. So definitely, definitely, definitely check them out at behervillage.com. We're going to make sure to have all of the links in our show notes. Go to Instagram. Follow Be Her Village. You're amazing and I'm so grateful for you. I'm so grateful that your births have taken you on this journey honestly, just like I have with mine. It's such an honor to be sharing this space and this beautiful community with you. Kaitlin: Thank you, Meagan. I feel the exact same way. I'm really, really grateful for you. As much as I hate that we have had these hard birth experiences, it's all worthwhile because of how we are using it and how we're using it to help the next person, so thank you for that. Meagan: Thank you. ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

You're invited to the Birthworker Retreat in Clearwater, Florida, this January! Meet your retreat hosts: Nichole Joy, Darcy Sauers, Kaitlin McGreyes and Jodi Congdon. Join us for a conversation on:   The benefits of being away from your usual environment to work on your business, gain clarity, and find inspiration. The energy and motivation of gathering with other birth workers. How & why healing is so important to building the sustainable business of your dreams, that fits your life. The value of putting yourself in a room where people are doing what you aspire to do. The importance of moving yourself, and your needs, higher on the priority list. Not only to avoid burnout, but to set an example for your children, and for your clients. How to navigate mom guilt when leaving for a retreat (or any other personal time, really) And more retreat excitement!   Retreat info & tickets: https://mailchi.mp/behervillage/birthworkerretreat     Connect with the retreat hosts here: @thedouladarcy @hiptoheart @behervillage     Ways to work with Nichole Joy: The Portal All-Access Pass https://nicholejoy.kartra.com/page/theportal Evolutionary Business School: https://members.nicholejoy.com/online-business-school-membership Private mentorship: email me at nichole@nicholejoy.com to chat & see if it's a good fit. Try Honeybook with my code: http://share.honeybook.com/nichole35768

S. 2 Ep. 22 Kaitlin McGreyes BE HER village Today we are joined by Kaitlin McGreyes of BE HER village. After an unplanned cesarean changed the course of her next two deliveries, she even went on to open a new company. I absolutely love this episode because of Kaitlin's openness to have hard conversations, even when we don't agree. Her bravery is quite remarkable! Tune in to hear more! Follow Kaitlin on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/behervillage Follow Kaitlin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behervillage/ Follow Birth Trauma Stories on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/birthtraumastoriespodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Birth Trauma Stories on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/BirthTraumaStoriesPodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cathy-garrett/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cathy-garrett/support

In today's episode I finish my conversation with Kaitlin McGreyes, the CEO of BeHerVilliage. She shares her challenges in postpartum, which dramatically changed the course of her life--she left teaching to become a doula, and the combination of a birth that jumped the tracks, as they often do, and the difficulties of PP inspired her to try to change the way the rest of us experience PP--a transformation that is amazing because of the company she created, and because her description of it gives us all a roadmap for what services we should be seeking out in pp so that you are not trying to heal while tending to a newborn by yourself.For extended show notes, see War Stories from the Womb

This is one of the most incredible people and companies we have come across. Be Her Village is all about supporting mom so mom can support baby. In this episode, Kaitlin goes into why it is so important to support moms with the necessary support, not just tangible items for the baby, and how her company is doing just that.Happy ListeningFind Kaitlin:https://www.behervillage.com/https://www.instagram.com/behervillagehttps://www.facebook.com/behervillageAffiliates/ Sponsors:Dame 10% off:http://mght.co/EVERYTHINGSFDBlendJet 12% offhttps://zen.ai/efpod12Leave a VM:https://www.speakpipe.com/EverythingsF_ckedPodcastSocial and Linkshttps://www.instagram.com/ef_ckedpodcast/https://linktr.ee/everythingsfuckedpodcast

If your services support pregnant or postpartum moms, you need to listen in! In an age where mothers are showered during their pregnancy with gifts for their baby, why are we not showering them with support for themselves? Kaitlin McGreyes is changing that mindset through Be Her Village, a baby registry tool that helps parents register for support, care providers, and services that will support them as a parent. The best part? You can get on the registry as a provider! Review full show notes and resources at http://mollycahill.com/podcast Mentioned in this Episode Holistic Marketing Hub - Use code PODCAST for $100 OFF Mentioned in this Episode Holistic Marketing Hub Be Her Village Episode 14 Connect with behervillage.com instagram.com/behervillage

Let's be real. Our society breezes right past the needs of a new mother when it comes to what she should receive at a baby shower. Sure, nipple cream and burb cloths are great. But it's time to change the outdated ways of inundating new parents with piles of stuff for the baby and give them what they TRULY need. Kaitlin McGreyes is the founder of BeHerVillage. She started doula work in 2014 and is passionate about creating access to maternal care for all. Through her gift registry platform, Kaitlin is reimagining birth and postpartum support as baby shower gifts.If you haven't heard of this new and unconventional way to support expecting mothers, y'all are in for a special treat...Listen in for these three big takeaways: BeHerVillage reduces the overwhelm of decision fatigue in new motherhood. Stressing about every choice she makes is the last thing a new mom needs. Reframing the narrative of what new parents need is at the center of the BeHerVillage mission. (Hint: it's not all the stuff!)BeHerVillage has an ulterior when it comes to doula care and postpartum support by providing it as a gift and making it more mainstream. ****For more juicy tips, information, and links you absolutely want to check out, go to: www.postpartumu.com/ep108-what-mothers-really-need-with-kaitlin-mcgreyes

We are so excited to have Kaitlin McGreyes from Be Her Village here with us today! Kaitlin began Be Her Village as an avenue for women to register for birth services instead of typical baby shower gifts to help support their transition to motherhood. Kaitlin shares how through her Cesarean and VBAC stories, she learned how to become an empowered and active participant during birth. Kaitlin and Meagan also answer a burning question. What is the real formula for how to have a successful birth outcome? Research, research, research, then trust yourself to make choices that are best for YOU!Additional LinksKaitlin's WebsiteHow to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsThe VBAC Link Facebook CommunityFull Transcript under Episode DetailsMeagan: Hello, hello you guys. It is Wednesday or maybe Friday or Thursday or Tuesday, whatever day it is that you are listening, today is Wednesday when we are recording The VBAC Link Podcast. I've been a little giddy for this episode because we have our friend Kaitlin. She and I connected. She is with Be Her Village and we actually connected two weeks ago. Maybe a week ago, a little bit ago. We got off the phone and we both felt the same feeling, this energy. Can we just be best friends? That's what you were saying. We're best friends. It's just so fun. We definitely have very similar passions and drives for the birth community and VBAC and all the things. She has a story of her own today that truly led her to where she is right now which I think is one of the biggest things that relates the two of us because my journeys led me to where I am right now at my desk recording this podcast and serving this VBAC community. So I'm going to introduce her a little bit more in just a moment, but we do have a Review of the Week. Review of the WeekThis was actually sent via email as well. We got two emails back to back about reviews. Just a reminder, if you have not had a moment to leave a review, please do so. We love them. They mean the world. Our team loves reading them. You can leave them on podcast apps like Apple or Google. You can send us a social media message on Facebook or Instagram or you can be like Daria did and she sent it to us via email. That is so wonderful as well. She says, “I just wanted to leave a review of my favorite podcast. It's almost an obsession at this point. I had a C-section with my twins almost two years ago and am currently pregnant with baby number three. I'm writing in March as I listen to your podcast on my walks and get ready for VBAC as much as I possibly can. I can't describe how much valuable information and most importantly inspiration it gives me. Maybe it's just pregnancy hormones but I swear I cry every time I listen to moms describing the emotional moments of their birth stories. Nothing feels more precious to me at that moment. I am dead set on having a VBAC in August and all of the episodes of the podcast give me extra encouragement and strength to advocate for myself. I religiously listen to every new episode and maybe I'll get to hear this review soon.”Yes, you will. It is coming up soon, just before your VBAC actually, Daria. It says, “Look out for my next email in August with hopefully a successful VBAC story. Thank you so much again for everything you do for women all over the world.” Oh my gosh. Then she says, “P.S. English is not my first language. I'm from Ukraine but I hope my English is fluent enough to reflect my feelings.” Oh my gosh. Kaitlin, is that not just an amazing review?Kaitlin: I really just feel it. I'm sitting here getting ready to tell my story and I'm getting teared up about the fact that the people listening are in my position right before I had my VBAC. It's such a place of unknown. It's such a place where you need support. It's such a place where there are so many forces working against us unfortunately and the fact that this podcast and my story might help someone in their preparation. It might impact them. It might be what they need to hear to stay and get furiously determined. Oh my god. I love it. I want to give her a hug.” Meagan: I know, right? I just want to squeeze her and say, “I love you. I love you. Yes, you can. Yes, you can advocate for yourself. Yes, you can do the things that so many people in this world believe are unachievable.” It makes my heart so sad to know that there are so many people out there that want a different experience and are told they can't or are told it's not possible. Yeah. I love that you're here. I love that you're in this space. I cannot wait for your email in August myself. Kaitlin's StoriesKaitlin: Oh my goodness. I am so excited. Let's get her her VBAC. Meagan: Yes! Let's do this. Yes. You get so invested Kaitlin. It's so amazing. You get so invested in this community. These people are writing and are like, “Hey, I have a question.” By the way, if you didn't know, you can always email us at info@thevbaclink.com and write us your questions. We love speaking with you. We love doing consults. We love doing all of these amazing things to connect with you and to build you up whether that be through a consult or the blog or just an email or this podcast or our VBAC course. Whatever it may be, we want to help you through your journey.Kaitlin: It's amazing. What you guys are doing, I'm so excited to even be here. This is the work. I've been a doula. I've helped so many people achieve their VBACs and witness them. I've literally been in the room with them, but this platform and everything you've created with it is helping so many people. It's so powerful to have this narrative change. It's so powerful for us to tell our stories and counter what the doctors are telling us, counter what maybe other people in our families are telling us. This fear and this risk and this, “How could you be so irresponsible to think about a vaginal birth? How selfish?”I don't know if we're allowed to curse here, but that is what drives me and that is so powerful to be like, “Nope. I did it. I trusted myself. I trusted my body. My body is not broken. I can do this with the right support, the right advocacy, and a little bit of luck.” Not going to lie, there is a little bit of luck in there. We can do this. That's such an incredible message that we need to keep spreading again and again and again. How awesome is this? Meagan: Oh my gosh. I couldn't agree more. Okay, you guys. We have Kaitlin and if you can't already tell, we just are so passionate about birth and options and birth workers and all of the things. I'm so excited and honored to have you, Kaitlin, on this podcast. You guys, she is the founder of Be Her Village. Be Her Village. Definitely go check it out. She started doula work in 2014 which, you guys guess what? So did I. I didn't know that until actually just barely. We started around the same time. She is so passionate about creating access to maternal care for all. She has a gift registry on this Be Her Village. You guys, it's a platform. It is literally– actually, I'm going to let you talk about it because it is literally amazing and genius. Genius. Kaitlin: Thank you. Meagan: It is such a great tool for people because I'm sorry. I love all baby clothes. I love my baby clothes so much. Kaitlin: I love baby clothes too. I don't tell anybody that, but I also love baby clothes. Meagan: I do, but after my two Cesareans specifically, actually even after my VBAC, luckily my husband was in a situation where he could be with me. He was home all of the time so we had the support but he could have even used some support. I loved all of those cute little baby gifts, but to have some resources or to have that doula that I wanted to hire with my second but my husband was like, “We can't afford it. I don't like the idea.” Right? Tell us about what you are doing with Be Her Village. Kaitlin: Awesome. Absolutely. First of all, thank you for having me. Meagan, I just love you. I love what you are doing. Everyone who is listening, thank you for this space to tell my story. Be Her Village is just my answer to having a baby and having this perfect nursery surrounded by all of the gifts, all of the wonderful, generous things that my friends and family showered me with, and actually having nothing I needed. Just feeling completely alone, being post-C-section because I didn't have a doula. I couldn't afford a doula. I didn't know that I needed a doula. That wasn't the norm. I was just surrounded by all of these gifts and had none of the support. Breastfeeding was hard. The C-section recovery was hard. Life with a newborn was hard. It's just difficult. What I've realized is that our community has so much love to give. They've sort of been tricked into this idea that all I need is stuff. We need stuff.Meagan: Wipe warmers. Kaitlin: Yeah, wipe warmers and seventeen different bouncers.Meagan: You don't really wipe warmers. Yeah. Kaitlin: It's a little extra. I feel like we can get all of the stuff in the baby nursery. You can get a whole baby's store worth of stuff and you're still going to need some support for yourself as a mother. So I thought of Be Her Village. I was like, “Why don't we connect parents with doulas and why don't we give doulas, lactation care, postpartum care, and pelvic floor visits as baby shower gifts?” What an incredible gift to be like, “I'm going to help you get your VBAC. Here's a doula to help you advocate for yourself. Here's a pelvic floor provider so you can get back to running, Cross Fit, or exercise,” which for many of us is a mental health tool. What about impactful gifts that actually care for the mother so she can take care of herself and her baby?Meagan: Yes. Yes. This is something Julie and I did when we were together hundreds of episodes ago saying that you can afford a doula because we are huge advocates here for our doulas. Clearly, we've seen the impact and we just know this impact, but we talk about asking for money towards something else. You don't have to. But this is an actual tool and resource where it is easy to do that. It is easy to do. It is easy to register for that. It's incredible. I'm obsessed with it.Kaitlin: Thank you. Meagan: I'm obsessed with you and I just can't wait to one day actually finally meet you in person. Kaitlin: Oh for sure. Meagan: Yes. Just yeah and just to see you grow because this is so amazing. Women of strength, we understand. We understand that finances are not always in a place to have a birth doula, a photographer, a lactation consultant, a postpartum doula, and a PT pelvic floor or to give birth out of a hospital and all of these things. We know that these things cost. We know that they do but I'm telling you right now there is serious value in this and it is honestly so amazing to have a doula or support versus a baby wipe warmer or one extra pair of newborn onesies. Kaitlin: Yeah. I want to provide insight into that. It's not just that it feels good to moms because that's something that we're not always comfortable with. “I'd rather get something for my baby. I don't need to feel good. I can do hard things.” And we can. We can do more than we know. But using a doula reduces your chance of a C-section. Using a doula reduces your chances of an episiotomy which is where they cut your perineum. It reduces the chance of forceps use or vacuum use. It reduces–Meagan: Time in labor. Kaitlin: Time in labor which I'm like, “Just sign me up right there. Are you kidding? Forget about it.” Meagan: Labor can be shortened by at least 41 minutes. Kaitlin: And you know what? It's more than just the shortness of the labor, it shortens pushing time and it increases the APGAR score of the baby which is literally the baby's health upon being born. There are just so many things that a doula does. It's not a promise that one doula will do that for you but collectively when people line up doula support, their outcomes, and their baby's outcomes are better. If you're thinking about a VBAC which I'm guessing you are if you're listening to this, you need to get a doula. You need to think about a doula. It has always been this thing that I personally even as a doula felt uncomfortable saying and recommending because how can you say, “Hey, doulas are vital. Sorry, you don't have $1000.” Meagan: Or more. Kaitlin: Or way more. It's such an uncomfortable conversation. That's why I created Be Her Village because 12 billion dollars are spent on baby gifts every year for baby showers. It's like, “Well maybe the generosity exists. Maybe the love exists and maybe the money exists. We just need to create a platform where people can line up their doulas and ask for them for their baby shower gifts.” That's exactly what we did and we've had over $135,000 gifted on Be Her Village directly to parents. They're getting the gifts. They're getting the support and it's literally the coolest thing in the world. Meagan: It's so amazing. Kaitlin: It's just so cool to see it come to life and to have people find out about it, then literally get better gifts that are taking care of them and improving their entire experience. Unfortunately, it's because I needed it. I wish I could go back in time and do it again which is something we really often hear is, “Oh my god. Where was this when I was having my baby?” Meagan: Right? That's why I'm here right now. I needed more. I felt alone in so many ways preparing for my VBAC. Everyone looked at me and was like, “What? You're doing what?” I'm like, “Yeah. I want to push a baby out of my vagina. Why does that seem so weird?” Because I had that Cesarean, everyone was like, “No, you can't do that.” I'll tell you what, when I came around to that second C-section and was wanting to have a vaginal birth, it was even more mindblowing to people. It felt very lonely and cold. I was like, “No. No.” There wasn't a lot of inspiration. Facebook was going on and there were stories being shared but there wasn't inspiration like what we have today. There wasn't a lot of knowledge in one spot so that's why we're here today. Kaitlin: I have to say that one of the things too, and there is so much to talk about, but this is actually part of my birth story too so it's such an interesting place to begin. I think people legitimately think that vaginal birth and Cesarean birth are equally risky or quite honestly even the opposite. They think that vaginal birth is more dangerous than Cesarean. It's like, of course. If that's the underlying held belief, the subconscious belief is that vaginal birth is risk and Cesarean is not, then of course, Meagan, why would you do that? Why would you risk your life and your baby's life just to have a vaginal birth? You don't get an award for that. I'm just imagining what these people are thinking. Meagan: They would say that. Kaitlin: You don't get an award and it's like, “Well, hold on a second. What if we actually find out where the risk lies?” That was something. I was not set on a VBAC. Not at all. I was totally disappointed. I was probably the least impactful word I could use but there was just a defeated feeling about my C-section. I just felt like, “Oh, that wasn't really what I wanted.” I also went into my VBAC birth, my second pregnancy sort of like, “I'm not going to take unnecessary risks for my baby or for myself just to get the VBAC badge or the vaginal birth experience.” You have to balance your desires with what's risky and what's safe. So I didn't research. I remember one of the things that stood out for me was that I had this vision of– and I'm sorry. Get your earmuffs ready. This might trigger somebody. But I had this vision of vaginal birth ending in hemorrhage and being very, very, very scary and very dangerous. I don't know. This is what you see in the movies. So I didn't research this. I don't know if you know this Meagan. I'm so excited if I can share this with you for the first time but vaginal birth hemorrhage is 500 ccs of blood loss. Cesarean normal blood loss in a totally run-of-the-mill, we-did-a-great-job, there-was no-extra-bleeding Cesarean, is 1000 ccs. It's double. Meagan: Yes. Kaitlin: As soon as I realized that, I was like, “Oh. We're not talking about the same thing. Everyone talks about vaginal birth and C-section on this leveled playing field and we are not in the same ballpark.” That is incredibly risky when it goes normally. It is twice as risky as when a vaginal birth goes horribly wrong. To me, it's like, “Oh, we're not even in the same stratosphere.” It's a completely different thing. I think once we start talking in facts and figures and we start really sharing that, it takes so much of the fear away. The fear can be such a big monster to deal with when we're talking about VBAC because it's scary. There are unknowns. Every pregnancy is a little scary because fear is what drives us but if you walk away with one fact from this podcast, just know that it is not the same thing. It's not even close to the same thing. Meagan: It's not. It is not. It isn't. Even with vaginal birth after a Cesarean, yes. There are risks to having a vaginal birth after a Cesarean, but it's also not the same thing. There are also risks for a second Cesarean, a third Cesarean, and a fourth Cesarean, and the risks are pretty substantial. It's important and I encourage you if you are preparing to actually look at the pros and cons of both sides. I also want to point out that sometimes the cons of a vaginal birth might make you be like, “Yeah, I don't want to do that. That's actually not what I feel comfortable with. That's not what my heart says.” And that is okay. Also, know the risks and the cons of the other side. So know the pros and the cons of both vaginal birth, vaginal birth after Cesarean, and vaginal birth after multiple Cesareans. Know those risks. Dial in and decide what risk is applicable, safe enough, and comfortable enough for you. My risk, I live a little bit more on the edge. I have jumped out of a plane multiple times and I have a friend who thinks that is the scariest thing and she won't do it because she has children. She fears the risk of dying. I totally understand. Kaitlin: I'm like, “I would VBAC every day of my life and I will never jump out of a plane. They are not the same risks.”Meagan: Right? So not the same risks to you and to me. So I'm like, “Yeah, my risk is nothing. It's not enough for me to not jump out,” and you're like, “Yeah, no. I'm not doing that.” So it depends. There are benefits and risks to both sides. You have to decide what is best for you. What risk is impactful enough for you to make that decision? Know that it's okay if you are not making the decision that Sally is making. It's okay. It doesn't make you any less of a woman of strength. It doesn't make you any less of a mother. Nothing. You're not failing your body. You're not failing your baby if you make one choice or another. Kaitlin: Absolutely. The big thing is that you have to get that information so that you know the right information so that when you have to go talk to a doctor and they write you off and say, “Nope. We do repeat C-sections because it's risky,” that you actually know what they're talking about and you actually know whether you are at risk or not because there is a much bigger picture than what you might get at a standard OB's office. Meagan: Yes. Absolutely, so this information is so important. Cesarean Awareness Month is April and one of the biggest things that a lot of say are, “So are we promoting Cesareans?” It's not that we are promoting Cesareans, it's that we are promoting information about Cesareans, VBAC, and your options. Even though Cesarean Awareness Month is in April, every month is Cesarean Awareness Month in my mind. Every single month and every single day is information that we need to be sharing, that we need to be getting out there because women of strength, you need to know these stats and these facts so that you can make the choice that is best for you. Kaitlin: Yes. Oh, I love that. Meagan: I don't know exactly all of the choices and the things that led up to your Cesarean but for me, I didn't know. I walked in. I was uneducated, you guys. I was young. I was 22. I just knew I was going to have a baby. I went to the same doc that my mom did who delivered me via Cesarean coincidentally and all of these things. I just didn't know. It takes knowledge. It takes time. It takes time. If you are willing to put in that time, you will likely, even if it ends in a Cesarean, feel better about your outcome and carry on with your life. Kaitlin: Yeah, and that VBAC prep, I don't think anyone here is anti-Cesarean. It's such an interesting thing to point out because there's nobody out there that is saying– April is not an anti-Cesarean month. Meagan: No. It's awareness. Kaitlin: It's awareness so that you can go in with intention, with a conscious choice, and with the information you need. You know what? I went through a whole research phase. I was not sure that VBAC was for me. I wasn't because I wasn't sold one way or the other, but the ability to have a choice is everything. That is where your power comes from. It's not from being the loudest, the strongest, the fastest, or even having a VBAC. It's about getting there on your terms. I know people who have had surprise VBACs believe it or not. I should send her to you. A surprise VBAC was not planned and she was kind of traumatized by it because she was planning a repeat C-section. She didn't go through that prenatal that a lot of people listening are going through of, “Okay, so what are my options and how do I step into my path here?” Whatever that path might be, there's a lot of power and a lot of healing in whatever birth you have, but unless you do that work of identifying your choices and not just your risk assessment but also your practitioners and lining yourself up with support, then you're going to be sort of that passive participant. I think, not all of us, some of our C-sections come after being active, but with a lot of us, myself included, there was this passivity where as soon as I hit the hospital, I was stripped of my power, stripped of my clothes, stripped of my humanness, and told to lay back flat. Keep the baby on the monitor. Here's your medication and boom. That's a C-section. It all happened to me and I wasn't actively there. That was a big part of what changed for me. I felt like I benefited from my VBAC whether I had a C-section or vaginal birth. For the record, I absolutely asked for a C-section as soon as I hit transition. I said to my doula, “Okay. I'm done. I'm done with this. Can we just get a C-section?” I'm really glad I asked my doula and not my OB. Meagan: Right? Right? Your doula and your team were probably like, “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let's give her ten minutes.” That is a very normal thing too to say. We need to hear your stories. Let's hear them. We could chat forever. But let's hear these.Kaitlin: Oh cool, okay. I know. We're already halfway through. I can give you a quick synopsis of the C-section because I feel like it's always relevant when we're talking about VBAC. My C-section was a 41-week induction, the oldest story in the book. Mine was a little bit interesting because I actually planned an out-of-hospital birth and I planned a midwife-supportive birth. I got a little bit of the bait-and-switch. It's a little spicy because in New York where I was giving birth at the time, midwives could not own a birth center. Now they can, there has been a huge push in legislation on that but at the time, I was told that midwives were in charge of my care and they were not. They were on the phone with an invisible OB I had never met. I did not know he was calling all of the shots. I always start off by saying that I planned an out-of-hospital birth with midwives. I thought I was doing all of the right things. That is part of what makes me feel a little extra angry about my treatment because I thought I was doing the right thing and I wasn't. Meagan: They never told you that you were actually under an OB umbrella?Kaitlin: Nope. Everything was midwife-facing. It was really disingenuous the way that they did that and then basically at the 41-week appointment, literally, an OB was on the phone with them in their ear telling them it was time to induce and I was sent to the hospital for an induction. I didn't know that was the bad part. It's only sort of upon reflecting and becoming a doula and realizing that, “Wait. They were never really in charge.” Meagan: You never actually had the midwife you thought you had. Kaitlin: No. I was not in midwifery care. I had a midwife mouthpiece for an OB. Meagan: Oh my gosh. Kaitlin: That wasn't great. It's also awful because that's the only birth center in New York. New York state is so far behind the rest of the country in a lot of ways and birth centers are definitely one of them. I want as a doula, in my heart of hearts, I want to recommend birth centers but I can't recommend that one because of the way that they behaved and their ownership. So I went to the hospital and it was alarming to me how fast the power was stripped away. My voice– my midwife dumped me there and left me there. This is crazy to say because I'm such an advocate and I've doula'd people through so many things that to say I allowed this for myself is kind of amazing. I was given Cytotec, a double dose of Cytotec in the C-section recovery room. That's where they sent me because I was in this busy Brooklyn hospital and I was set up with Wendy, the nurse, who I hate. I still remember Wendy. These people become bigger characters in your story. Meagan: They do. Kaitlin: Because they stay with you. But anyway, long story short, I went from nothing eating a sandwich with my family to absolutely full-blown, every three-minute transition level contractions. I couldn't move. She wouldn't let me move off of my back. I felt like a trapped animal. I ended up getting the epidural because my whole birth plan was out the window. Meagan: Oh, I'm sure. Kaitlin: I was like, “Why am I torturing myself?” and the baby didn't respond well to the epidural. His heart rate went down and I just looked at my team. They all looked very nervous and I said, “What are we doing here?” She said, “The OB is going to come to talk to you in about 45 minutes.” I'm like, “This baby is actively in distress.”Meagan: But your baby is not doing well.Kaitlin: Actively in distress. The OB was going to come in 45 minutes. I looked at her and I say this, the only reason this is okay is because I said it. I would never say this to another person but I looked at her and I said, “I want a healthy baby. I want a healthy baby at the end of this.” I say that because it's really toxic to be like, “At least you had a healthy baby.” It's like, “Okay. I get to say.” What I was trying to say to her in the fog of the labor was, “After all of this misery and all of this horrible treatment, at the very least I would like a baby that's alive and handed to me.”So I did. I got a C-section. It was scary. It was cold literally and otherwise. It was not what I wanted. It was not the ending that I wanted. I ended up in my house. My husband was back at work. He didn't have literally any time off and he was back at work the day that I was released from the hospital two days later. It was just underwhelming. It was not how I wanted to enter motherhood. Meagan: No. Kaitlin: In the least. I felt like besides the physical– the physical recovery was horrible and I recovered really well but it was just so intense. It's major surgery. I also just felt disempowered. I felt highly anxious. I didn't realize it until later that it was postpartum anxiety but I was just so set off-kilter by the whole experience. It just took my power and my voice and my strength away from me and then handed me a baby and a C-section scar. I was like, “Oh. That's not how I thought motherhood was going to go.” Meagan: Oh my gosh, yeah. That's hard and being alone. Oh, man. Kaitlin: Yeah, being alone. Meagan: It started your journey off really intensely. Kaitlin: It was really hard. Then when I had my second, I just knew it needed to be different. I knew I needed to do more research. I actually, this is funny. I did everything the opposite. I planned hospital birth. I planned an OB birth. I hired a doula. Everything I didn't do, I did the opposite. But the thing I did along the way was that I was really intentional about all of my choices. I found the doctor that does VBACs where I live. There's a handful of them and I found Jessica Jacob at North Shore. She does a lot of Orthodox Jewish women who see her. That's her practice. A lot of those women have 6, 7, 8, and 9 babies so when they have a C-section if the thing is “once a C-section, always a C-section,” that can result as we talked about earlier, that can result in really dangerous situations. So she specializes in VBAC, vaginal births, and preventing those primary C-sections.So I went to her. I had done my own research and then I went to her and said, “Knowing my story and looking at my chart, am I a candidate?” She said, “Absolutely.” I was like, “Okay, sold. I'm in.” Meagan: That's awesome. Kaitlin: Yeah, it was really good. This one was so much less traumatic and not even less traumatic. I had a full-blown spiritual experience with my VBAC. It was completely on my own terms. It was private. The day that I went into labor was my due date believe it or not. What a magical little baby. Awesome and obedient and wonderful. Now he's not. He's not obedient at all. He's 8 now. He's not obedient. But it was actually Father's Day in 2014. That was my due date. I woke up with these little Braxton Hicks turned into these contractions that would– you know the Braxton Hicks where they just tighten and release and you have them forever? It was like that except at the very height of it, it was this little squeeze that just took my attention. I was like, “Oh, what? What is this?”Meagan: You're like, “Oh, something's happening.” Kaitlin: Because I had never been in my own labor. This is part of it. I had never been. I had this suspicion, you know that intuition, I just knew that if I could get into labor, I could do this. I went to an acupuncturist, one that my doula recommended. They put these beads on my ears. I don't know if you've ever had this Meagan.Meagan: No. Kaitlin: Okay, so they put beads on my ears in these pressure points and they taped them. Then he told me as much as I could, and I am touching on the actual points because that's where they were. I'll never forget where they were. And to just pinch them and just keep doing that as much as you can to activate. Meagan: Really?Kaitlin: I did it. That was Friday. Friday night was when I went. I pinched and squeezed those until Saturday. I literally ripped the tape and the beads off. I was totally overstimulated and couldn't touch them anymore but I did as much as I could. I remember knowing that I had an instinct that I was going to go into labor because I could not stop eating the day before. It's so interesting how our bodies know. Meagan: It's fueling. They're fueling. Our bodies fuel. I did the same thing with my VBAC. It was so weird. I had all of this energy and was eating all of the stuff. Kaitlin: Everything. Meagan: Everyone was like, “How are you eating that much? You're 9 months pregnant.” I'm like, “I don't know. I'm so hungry.” Kaitlin: My husband, we went out for lunch and he got food for me, him, and my two-year-old at the time. I remember looking at him and I was like, “What are you guys going to eat?” I was insatiable which had been different from any other day. So anyways, I wake up on Father's Day, the day of my birth and it was this incredible, gentle, slow labor which was such a wonderful way to learn how to work with my body. The whole morning was this questioning time of, “Am I in labor?” In between, I was literally like this talking in between. I would convince myself, “No, not in labor.” There was this whole discussion of, “Should we go to Father's Day brunch?” Then I would have a wave come and I was like, “No, no, no. We're not going to sit at a restaurant right now.” Meagan: Yeah, no. Kaitlin: So I labored like that all day with just me and my husband. We watched World Cup soccer. We got lunch. We were eating. I was learning how to move. I was learning how to breathe. Every single contraction was just this opportunity to figure out how to work with my body. Then the nighttime came. It's what you learn in your childbirth classes. At night, the night falls and it signals this privacy and safety. Again, it was still just me and my husband. Things just picked up. Oh my goodness. I remember my doula called me. I had been texting her all day. I didn't want anyone to come. It was so private. She called me and we spoke. I just gave her an update then we hung up the phone and it's amazing the switch. Everything about labor is so mental and emotional. I just kicked into high gear. The waves that I was able to get on top of earlier, it was taking the full essence of my being to work through these contractions. It was so incredibly wild how fast that happened. We labored at home until maybe midnight. Yeah, about midnight. We called our doula. We had called the doctor and said, “Hey, I think we're going to come in.” The doctor said, “Well, she might get turned away. She's not ready.” Because this is what VBAC-supportive looks like. It looks like saying, “You might not be allowed to be here because that's how I keep you safe in this hospital.” I remember that really stood out to me. It was like, “Oh, this is interesting what she is saying. Maybe I shouldn't come.” So we waited as long as we possibly could. We called the doula around midnight. The doula came here to my house. I was on my knees next to my bed. I could not be in my bed for hours and hours. I looked at her as soon as she got there and I said, “Let's go. It's time to go.” She was like, “Oh, okay. I just got here.” Between my bedroom and my car, I had probably five contractions. It was just one after the other after the other. At this point, I'm thinking that I'm going to go to the hospital and spend the day there. My mom will come for the birth. I'm not really getting–Meagan: Where you're at. Kaitlin: Where I am in labor because it's part of labor. You just kind of can't tell. Meagan: It's true. There's no sense of time. There's no sense of understanding sometimes. You're like, “I know I'm feeling this, but it's probably going to be a while.” Kaitlin: Yeah, that's actually literally a part of it. You're not supposed to know. Your brain shuts down. The prefrontal cortex of language analysis shuts down and you're living in this beautiful other existence where you're in a wave. You're out of a wave. You're in a wave. You're out of a wave. So we went to the hospital. I walked all the way up. They offered me a wheelchair and I was like, “I literally cannot sit down. There's not a chance of that.” So I waddled my way and had contractions every few minutes. When I got to the floor, they were like, “Okay, just skip triage. Go right to the room.” They took one look at me. I think they obviously knew that I was much closer than I knew. I went to go pee in the bathroom in the room right before I went to go lay in the bed and get checked or whatever. When I sat on the toilet, I had a contraction and I now know it was spontaneous pushing. But I had this contraction where it was like, “Oooohh.” Meagan: Yeah. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Kaitlin: At the top, the peak, when you're moaning, it just caught. It was like, “Oh my god. I think I'm pushing.” It was this weird thing. It was weird because I hadn't experienced it before. So I got in bed and everything was really a blur because the doctor came. She checked me and she said I was 6 centimeters and +2 station, -2 station. I wasn't ready. When I was pushing and I was working, the best thing she did was she just said, “Okay. Just do your thing. I'm going to be right outside.” The nurses were skirting around asking me so many questions and I just ignored all of them. Where I was, was in the stars. I was just so far away from the hospital room. It doesn't make sense but I just imagined this tunnel from the top of my head to the outer regions of the universe. That's where I went. I went to this place that was just completely apart from the realities and the things that the nurses were worried about. I just could not care less. I was so deeply in tune with what I was feeling and where I was going in my brain and my body. I remember feeling so primal in a good way. The first time, I felt like a trapped animal and this time, I felt like this primal goddess being just feeling deeply connected to every sense of myself and every sense of my body. It was just wild. It's hard to put into words but it was one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had laboring my baby down and pushing him out. There was no other anything at that moment. It was just me, my body, and this baby. It was the coolest thing I've ever done. There were funny moments in it too. This is the reality side of it. At one point, I was curled up on my side against the side of the hospital bed. In the middle of a contraction, the bed starts going up and down, up and down. Meagan: Was your head pushing it?Kaitlin: I snapped at my husband, “Why are you moving the bed?” He was like, “It's you.” Meagan: It's you! Kaitlin: So it was quite the sight. But yeah, and he just flew out. My body just apparently, so I didn't realize this until a lot longer later, but I experienced fetal ejection reflex with my next baby who was a home birth, but I experienced it with him too. He went from inside of me to in the doctor's hands in one big push. It was just wild. It was really wild and it was really, really the coolest thing ever. It's hard to explain how intense the moment is and how good it feels to have that relief.Then the oxytocin was just pulsing. Everything is good. I remember he was put on my chest and he was so alert. He was so awake. He was not drugged. I was not drugged which was not necessarily part of the plan. I just want to throw that out there. I was wanting to go without an epidural but it wasn't–Meagan: Set in stone. Kaitlin: I wasn't deadset on it, yeah. I was open to whatever happened. Meagan: Which is healthy. That's a healthy way. Kaitlin: Because who knows? But it was so cool to have him go through those initial stages and be aware of his surroundings. I remember feeling even in that moment of joy, I remember feeling a little bit like I was experiencing what was stolen from me the first time around. It felt like a little bit of grief associated with that. I'm getting a little teary-eyed thinking about it right now. I honestly think it's why I had a third baby. I should have had this. I should have had this the first time. He looked just like his big brother. It was just this feeling of, “I was really robbed.” I knew I was robbed the first time but I didn't know what necessarily. Meagan: Right, because you hadn't been there yet.Kaitlin: I just knew there was something I was missing. There was this incredible feeling of triumph. That was absolutely the overwhelming feeling but there was this little linger of grief too, of just, “Oof. Now I know what I missed out on.” It was beautiful. I screamed from the top of my lungs, “I just had a baby out of my vagina!” Literally, the entire floor of the hospital could hear. My doula sent me a video of that later on. Meagan: Oh my gosh, I love that. I love that you have that. Kaitlin: Yeah, I'd have to find it but it was just this pure, pure triumph. I was forever changed by that. I was forever changed by the whole experience and that vaginal birth was the culmination of all of the work I put in. It was the culmination of doing the research, lining up my support team, and doing this work to be an active participant in my care. It was the best thing in the whole world and I am forever changed by that moment. Meagan: Yeah. I love that you said being an active participant in your care. It's so important, listeners, for you to be that person in your birth and not have birth happen to you. We know it happens. We know. It happens way too often. I hope in time that we stop seeing it happen so often and it's more of a rarity but right now, a lot of the time– I don't want to make it sound like we are painting a bad picture on providers or the system or anything like that. I mean, look. You were going out of the hospital–Kaitlin: And I still got burned.  Meagan: It depends, right? But it's so important and it all stems back to what we were talking about in the beginning is having the education, having the support, and being prepared to be that active participant and to be that person and finding those supportive providers that will say, “Hey, why don't you stay? You're probably going to get sent home for a little longer.” It's just so important and it can be vital to the outcome of our birth. Kaitlin: Yes. That's such an important thing, Meagan, if people are listening and trying to take things away. I think something that we can do often is, “I'm going to listen to this. I'm going to listen to as many birth stories as I can so I can learn exactly the formula. What did she do? What did she do? What is the thing that I have to do?” The thing you have to do is get the information and then trust your gut. Part of being an active participant is research, research, research, then trust your gut. That's what I always tell people. Do all of that research, but at the end of the day, you're the only person that can make each of these hundreds and thousands of tiny decisions for yourself. That's the real formula. Meagan: Yes. Kaitlin: Trusting our instincts, trusting ourselves, trusting our own wisdom in these moments to steer us and guide us forward. Meagan: Yeah and just like each of our bodies is made out of different things and chromosomes and hormones and all of the things, we are made to be the person we are, we have to trust all of those things. Like she said, and create our own formula because her formula is going to be different than mine. She's not jumping out of a plane. I jumped out of a plane twice because I loved it so much. I had to do it again. Kaitlin: I'm definitely not jumping out of a plane. Meagan: Right, I'm just saying that the formula is going to be different. You have to tune into your own formula and it does start with that intuition, education, and gathering support. Kaitlin: Meagan, you said it earlier too. I know we're running out of time. Meagan: No, you're fine. Kaitlin: You can see all of those stats and also do the opposite. You can see that it's safer to have a C-section and choose a vaginal birth. You can see that vaginal birth is riskier for you and choose that anyway. The evidence is there. The “evidence” is there as part of the decision making but you get to do what feels right for you and your family and your baby and your body and your birth. That is the thing. Evidence is not everything. It's one of the tools that we have. Meagan: Yes. Mic drop right there. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for being with us today. I mean, I know that we could talk for hours and hours and hours about all of the things. We probably need to do this again because of that. Kaitlin: I would love that. I love you and everything you're doing here. Thank you so much for having me. Meagan: Thank you. Can you tell everybody where they can find Be Her Village?Kaitlin: Absolutely. Behervillage.com is a great place to start. You can just hit the “Get Started” button. You can create a registry or if you're a birth worker and you want to get involved with what we're doing, you can add your services. We have training courses. We have so many great things. You can find us on Instagram and Facebook. Both are @behervillage. I'm in the stories. I'm answering the messages on Instagram so if you want to be in touch, that's the best way. Meagan: Absolutely. We'll make sure to drop all of those links in the show notes. So while you're leaving a review, also go check all of these amazing links out because Be Her Village is incredible, doing amazing things, and is seriously so important. So, so important. Thank you again so much. Kaitlin: Thank you so much, Meagan. Bye, everybody!ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

What sort of stuff do I need to prepare for a baby? Great question. And what if it's not about the “stuff?” What if we focus less on the “stuff” and look more at the support and resources that mothers and parents need after they have a baby? Enter Be Her Village, an online cash gift registry where parents can select services and support for friends and family to contribute to. You can customize your registry to include things like your midwifery care, a doula (birth and/or postpartum), lactation consultant, physical therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic care, nutritionist, etc.  Kaitlin talks about her journey that inspired the idea for Be Her Village, plus how it works for parents to use it (ps - it's ALWAYS free for parents to use), as well as how birthworkers can use it to list their services and be a part of the $12 billion industry for baby gifts (spoiler: majority of them are not necessary!).  For parents: go to www.behervillage.com and start your registry (and let them know DIAH sent you when you sign up!) For birthworkers: go to www.behervillage.com to list your services (which is free!), and you can use the code ATHOME for 20% off any course or certification you'd like to sign up for Links From The Episode: Be Her Village: https://behervillage.com/ Be Her Village Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behervillage/ Episode 370 with Kaitlin: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doing-it-at-home/id1153134918?i=1000551843569 More From Doing It At Home: Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we are speaking to Kaitlin McGreyes, the founder of BeHerVillage, a gift registry for moms to get support instead of a bunch of baby stuff. We have helped over $50,000 going directly to new parents to pay for their doulas, lactation consultants, midwives, and postpartum care. Key Points: Intro: 00:24 What it feels like after having a baby 07:57 Needing professional help in the fourth trimester  11:12 Having extra support services is expensive and not covered by insurance  13:05 Maternity leave isn't long enough 16:00 Four Go-To Questions 20:20: 1. Who and what inspires you? 2. What is something you wished you knew when you were younger? 3. What's the essential part of your daily routine?  4. Best advice you've ever received Connect with Kaitlin: Website: Behervillage.com Instagram: instagram.com/behervillage Facebook: Facebook.com/behervillage YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU9WWY8Xa0js_KehZ7VyKeQ The Francy Life - Not Your Momma's Podcast Available Here:  Apple Spotify  Amazon Music Check Cristina Francy Out:  Blog: https://cristinafrancy.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrs.cfrancy/  Liketoknowit: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/cristina.francy Email for collaborations: cristinarfrancy@gmail.com    ABOUT THE FRANCY LIFE- NOT YOUR MOMMA'S PODCAST I'm here to help empower women and pull back the curtain on expert's advice for every area of our lives. Through a series of interviews, we will tackle everything from eating for wellness, the best advice for littles, fashion and style, and everything in between. Get ready to get real. This is NOT YOUR MOMMA'S PODCAST. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thefrancylife/support

What if you actually were fully supported and got what you needed to help you in your postpartum? Well in this episode we talk with Kaitlin McGreyes, the founder of “Be Her Village”, all about the importance of a village in your 4th trimester, how to mindfully register and the beauty of doing motherhood together. We hope this episode will encourage you to seek out a community if you don't have one currently and how to set up a registry that will support YOU. So grab a snack and let's get to it! Resources  For listeners of this episode, “Be Her Village” has given our listeners a discount code- HEYMAMA20 to receive 20% off their paid offerings on the registry.  Website:  https://behervillage.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behervillage/ 

Did you feel frazzled at your first pediatrician's appointment? Did you cling to your baby feeding goals because your birth didn't turn out the way you hoped? Kaitlin McGreyes of Be Her Village tells three very different breastfeeding stories that showed varying levels of support. But one thing rang true throughout– the levels of support she felt and didn't feel made it clear that she wanted to change how much support other parents felt, and she wanted to do that starting in pregnancy, and wanted to make support a part of the mainstream conversation.On this episode you will hear themes related to: Being disappointed in your birth story Clinging to your breastfeeding outcomes as a result of your birth outcomes The importance of finding a pediatrician who truly supports human milk feeding Remembering that pediatricians work for parents Every baby is different How emotional baby feeding can be even years after the fact Baby registries and big box stores don't talk to families about support Helping families get support paid for FPIES in the breastfeeding infant Finding your own diagnosisHead to Apple Podcasts or Spotify for more Milk Making Minutes episodes!Listen to Episode of The Milk Making Minutes on Amazon Music too!Parents: behervillage.comCreate your FREE registry and fund your support team!Birth Workers: behervillage.com/partnersUse code MILKMAKING25 to save 25% off any annual plan and/or Gift Registry Expert Certification course.To find my listing on be her village go to:https://behervillage.com/partners/quabbinbirthservicesTo connect with Be Her Village on IG:https://www.instagram.com/behervillage/To book a lactation consultation with me, visit my website: www.quabbinbirthservices.com. In many cases I can bill your insurance, or create a superbill for you to submit for reimbursement. I offer virtual consults for clients outside of my service area!Follow me on IG @lonigrosh to laugh about baby feeding (so you don't cry) and to see photos of guests. Follow me on TikTok to answer questions of the day and ponder systemic inequities together: @lonigroshibclc

Kaitlin McGreyes is the founder of BeHerVillage, an organization that aims to increase access to maternal care for all. She began her career as a birth doula in 2014, providing support to hundreds of families through their parenthood journeys. Kaitlin has since founded a doula team, mentored aspiring doulas, and advocated for the rights of birthing people. She is also dedicated to helping birth workers enter the retail baby gift industry. Welcome Kaitlin    In this episode: Kaitlin McGreyes shares her journey to creating Be Her Village, an organization that provides support for new moms Kaitlin shares her birth experiences, including a traumatic standard American maternal care experience, a transformative second birth, and a powerful home birth Kaitlin discusses the benefits and misconceptions surrounding home birth, including the ability to access higher level care and hospital interventions potentially leading to emergencies Kaitlin advocates for self-advocacy and refusing to be a backseat participant in medical appointments and during birth Be Her Village's baby registry is highlighted as a way to provide actual support and care as gifts instead of just retail items   Key Takeaways: Kaitlin had a traumatic first birth experience but transformed into an empowered person after her second birth Kaitlin advocates for mother's power and transformation rather than the mode of delivery Kaitlin shares about various birth choices, refused to be a backseat participant and had a successful natural birth Home births are not necessarily unsafe and can provide access to higher-level care and interventions   Tweetable Quotes: “It was not about an intervention-free birth. It was about having a birth where I felt in charge and in the driving, in the driver's seat.” - Kaitlin McGreyes Connect with Kaitlin McGreyes! Website:https://behervillage.com/ Social Media: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok   Connect with Debra!   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debra.pascalibonaro  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orgasmicbirth/  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-pascali-bonaro-1093471/  Visit https://www.orgasmicbirth.com/ for more information on how to have fulfilling and enjoyable births. Check out Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret, the film creating buzz around the world! Orgasmic Birth Podcast: Pleasure in pregnancy, birth, and parenting. I believe pleasure is our birthright - from our sexuality, birth, parenting, and beyond, we can find pleasure when we create space for joy and intimacy in our lives. Join me to have deep conversations about breaking the taboos of Sexuality + Motherhood/Parenthood.    Listen to leading experts in sexuality, healing, and childbirth as well as stories from new parents, doulas, doctors, midwives, and nurses. We will discuss how to positively prepare for childbirth and parenting by expanding love and intimacy in your life.

In this episode, our guest is Kaitlin McGreyes. She is a doula and founder of BeHerVillage.com.  Kaitlin had a traumatic birth experience and found herself unsupported. She had lots of baby things from her registry, but the one thing she needed the most at that time was support. Everyone was concerned about the baby, while the medical staff was annoyed with her. She felt that no one cared about her—the person that the baby needed. She was miserable. Because of this experience, she later founded BeHerVillage.com. It aims to provide that support to the moms who need it when they need it. The registry allows family and friends to help with essential things for the mom, like pay for doulas, childbirth classes, pelvic floor specialists, breastfeeding coaches, someone to help with chores, and others. Through this, the moms are supported throughout and after their pregnancy to be the best mothers for their children. Who is Kaitlin McGreyes?Kaitlin McGreyes is a doula and mother who created BeHerVillage.com so that other mothers may get the support they need to succeed as parents.Everyone who knew her was quite generous when she had her children. But when things went wrong during labor, and she had to have a traumatic cesarean, she was on her own.She needed more than just adorable baby outfits, diapers, and baby bottles to get through that lonely period. She needed assistance with breastfeeding, household chores, and bathing her baby while she showered. She needed the comforting physical company of a friend.With BeHerVillage.com, Kaitlin hopes to transform traditional baby shower rituals. She feels that every mother should be honored. They need encouragement most, and she hopes they receive a deluge of that.She dreams of a world where all expectant mothers receive prenatal care, have access to a doula during childbirth, and have a support network of family and friends to help them while adjusting to life with a newborn.Check out Kaitlin:Website: https://behervillage.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlinmcgreyesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/behervillage IG: https://www.instagram.com/behervillage/ Connect with Chad:Strategy Call: https://calendly.com/mrtenacity40/pgi-coaching-consultWebsite: https://mrtenacity.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-osinga-b62a08b1/FB: https://www.facebook.com/108630534048340IG:https://www.instagram.com/mr._tenacity/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrtenacity40

Kaitlin McGreyes is the founder of Be Her Village, a gift registry for parents to get the funds they need to pay for the support they deserve. Kaitlin has been a doula for seven years and was called into this work after her own birth experience. She is a fierce advocate for mothers, and created Be Her Village to help all parents be able to afford and access the care and support they need as they welcome their babies.On this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant podcast Kaitlyn shares:- How Be Her Village is positioning doulas and sleep consultants in front of new parents so that we are better positioned to grow our businesses in the postpartum space- How Be Her Village is working to eliminate the stigma and shame around hiring support as a new parent- That the money is THERE! The baby gifting business is a 12 billion dollar industry, and by working together, birth and postpartum professionals can change the narrative around what new parents really need most when they bring their new babies home.Links:https://behervillage.com/https://www.instagram.com/behervillage/https://www.facebook.com/behervillageIf you would like to learn more about becoming a Certified Sleep Consultant, please join our Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomeasleepconsultant or check out our website https://thecpsm.com/

Kaitlin McGreyes is the founder of BeHerVillage. She started working as a birth doula in 2014 and quickly became passionate about creating access to maternal care for all. She has supported hundreds of families through their parenthood journeys, founded a doula team, ran a doula mentorship program, has lobbied on behalf of birthing people, and is committed to helping birth workers break into the retail baby gift industry.BeHerVilalge is helping families get the funds they need to pay for support they deserve:DoulasChildbirth EducationPelvic Floor HealthLactation ConsultantsMental Health SupportChiropractic CareAnd more!In this episode, Dr Shannon and Doula Rachael share a passion-filled, forward thinking, and vulnerable conversation about we, as birth workers, can meaningfully and effectively provide the type of support new parents need in order to feel their best and be able to take care of their family in a way that leaves them feeling lifted up instead of overwhelmed. This conversation was truly magical and left us feeling inspired and on fire to spread the word about BeHerVillage and how they are flipping the script on gift registries and why this is so important!How to connect with BeHerVillage:Be Her Village (website)Be Her Village (Instagram)We hope what we share will make an impact and help someone else along their journey.We believe that when you are aligned in body, mind, and your intuition, you can conquer anything!If you like what you are hearing and you don't want to miss our newest episodes, be sure and tap subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated.Follow us on Instagram:Aligned Birthwww.instagram.com/aligned_birthCheck out our individual websites:Sunrise Chiropractic and Wellness - www.sunrisechiropracticandwellness.comNorth Atlanta Birth Services - www.northatlantabirth.comDisclaimerThe information shared, obtained, and discussed in this podcast is not intended as medical advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional consultation with a qualified healthcare provider familiar with your individual medical needs. By listening to this podcast you agree not to use this podcast as medical advice to treat any medical condition in either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating.  Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.  This entire disclaimer also applies to any guests or contributors to the podcast.  The podcast hosts take no money from affiliate links provided in the show notes. Podcast Editing by: Chris Godfrey of Godfrey Sound: www.godfreysound.comMusic: "Freedom” by Roa - https://roamusic.wixsite.com/roamusic

Startle reflex, heart palpitations, clumsiness. Discover what week the baby begins to flip in preparation for birth [11:14] Celeste and Dave continue their pregnancy journey with Week 25 updates on their cauliflower baby, and discuss pregnancy insomnia [3:15], hemorrhoids [5:32], blurry and dry vision [7:16], and the development of itchy skin [8:44]. Doula and CEO, Kaitlin McGreyes, joins Celeste in an empowering conversation about: The founding of Be Her Village [13:10] The importance of community support [17:54] Reducing the “What If” game [27:29] Planning around the 'uncontrollables' of birth [33:48] Expressing healthy rage [49:32] Doula tips for contractions [55:08] SHOW NOTES ✨ Be Her Village behervillage IG Celeste Busa IG Dave Hill IG THE SHOW

Today we're chatting with Kaitlin McGreyes about the birth of her 3rd child, which was her first home birth. After a cesarean and then a hospital VBAC for her first two births, she decided to have a different experience for her third. Kaitlin was a doula for 2 years before her home birth. And interesting fact: in the beginning of her doula work, she was against home birth. We talk about the shifts in her thoughts about home birth and the reasons for having one for herself.  Plus really awesome conversations around the landscape of the birth world in general, and what she and her company Be Her Village are doing to help parents and families in getting the real support they need (like funding for their care provider, postpartum practitioners, mental health resources, etc.) as opposed to a bunch of extra toys and gear that they might not necessarily need.  From Kaitlin: “I had been a doula for 2 years. I had a cesarean for my first, vbac in hospital with my second (unmedicated) and I opted for a home birth for my third baby. I was expecting the birth to be EXACTLY like my vbac labor. and it was in terms of timing and how it started. Both started at 6am while I was in bed with small Braxton hicks that had a pinch at the peak. That's where the similarities ended. My 21 hour vbac was gentle and peaceful and spiritual. My home birth was moving faster than I expected. My midwife only made it because she was smart enough to come without me asking. And in under 6 hours I went from maybe being in labor to roaring my baby out in a half filled birth pool. I experienced FER and instead of pushing her out I was holding her back so I didn't tear. Unlike what you see on YouTube our home birth involved both of us screaming lol. It was fast and furious, much like my daughter.” Things we talk about in this episode: Cesarean birth Hospital VBAC Reasons for having a home birth Doula work influencing your own birthing choices Preparing for birth while you are pregnant Be Her Village registry Links From The Episode: Be Her Village Website: https://www.behervillage.com/ Be Her Village Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behervillage/   Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order or DIAH100 for $100 off a Complete Plan   More From Doing It At Home: Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe  Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

Hello everyone and welcome back to our podcast, The Patients Speak, where we're combining the business and science innovations of healthcare with the patient voice and how to help them navigate the system to get from diagnosis to wellness faster and more smoothly. Our guest today is Kaitlin McGreyes who is the founder and CEO of a venture called Be Her Village, a gift registry app.“Be Her Village is my way of helping parents access the funds to pay for all of those support providers that insurance is largely not covering right now,” says Kaitlin.Be Her Village is a gift registry for moms. Instead of a baby gift registry, they help moms get the support that they need when they are welcoming a baby into their families. Some of the support services we are talked about are : Prenatal CareDuring Pregnancy SupportEducation On Pregnancy MattersDoulasAdvocacy HelpLactation ConsultantsPelvic Floor TherapistsMaternal And Mental Health Providers“There's something really beautiful about reinventing the village as a village of professionals that we can tap into and get the wisdom from, and get the care into the homes of mothers, and get them connected, in a really direct and efficient way,” says Kaitlin.They have a growing network of providers across the country, in all different categories whom they match with families or mothers for free, that need a particular service in their networks.They then help mothers get their registry set up so that they can get the funds they need to pay for those services. And if they don't have a provider in their area, they help find one. In our conversation, we found that this is not just a gifting idea. It is a women's health idea.“The midwives, the nurse practitioners, the lactation consultants, the pelvic floor providers. They are so excited that we exist.”The clinical community is excited about the existence of Be Her Village because in the areas where they can't offer the full spectrum of support, then the patient's voice is amplified by the fact that they know that they need support, and they need support from a multitude of different practitioners.“Parenthood Ventures, and we are part of a network of parenthood technology companies that are working to make life better for parents.”In our conversation, we realized that parents are struggling and that they have problems that need to be solved, and that those problems can be solved through tech. She's also part of a consortium, an ecosystem called Parenthood Ventures. They are also looking for mentorship as well. So as to have a competent team to be able to carry out their missionIn conclusion, she gives us a takeaway as we sum up our discussion, “We need to engage with the people we want to help. Put your ego and yourself to the side. At the end of the day, we need to build something that people will use and will tell each other about as they experience it,"Kaitlin 's Website I am the founder of BeHerVillage, a gift registry platform for parents to get support like doulas, lactation care, in-home postpartum support, and more! Kaitlin 's Facebook page @behervillage on Instagram LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlinmcgreyes/BSB Media BSB Media

Kaitlin McGreyes, Founder of BeHerVillage talks with Kristin Revere,  Co-Owner of Gold Coast Doulas. She's a Birth Doula, Postpartum Doula, Certified Newborn Care specialist, Co-Host of the Ask A Doula Podcast, and Co-Founder of The Becoming a Mother Course.Inspired by her own experience in trying to find resources as a newly pregnant mom, Kristin has worked to make the information around pregnancy, birth, and postpartum readily available to anyone who is looking for it.They cover the importance of creating support systems BEFORE giving birth, and what ongoing support looks like in the postpartum period, for new parents and for babies.You can find Kristin and her team here:Gold Coast DoulasAsk A Doula PodcastThe Becoming a Mother Course(use the code Becoming50 at checkout for a discount!)Expectant parents, you can create your registry of support services for free at BeHerVillage.comProviders, you can join us too at BeHerVillage.com/partnersWant to share your birth story? Click here!

Kristin and Kaitlin McGreyes of Be Her Village discuss the importance of registering for services vs. things and her groundbreaking new gift registry platform.

Content Warning: This episode depicts a traumatic birth experience, with mention of suicidal thoughts. Listener discretion is advised.In this episode Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of BeHerVillage talks with Trish Evangelista of Babylon Crossfit. Trish is a Crossfit Affiliate owner, L2 Coach, Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism Coach, who is using her pregnancy and birth experience to educate and empower moms.Trish talks about the importance of being educated before birth and how hiring and learning from the right coaches can make a huge difference while navigating pregnancy and postpartum.She wants moms to know that there are resources for them (for birth and postpartum as well as fitness) no matter where they are on their journey.To learn more about Trish, her gym, and her offerings head to BabylonCrossfit.comIf you're getting ready for a baby, you can put support like this on your registry when you use BeHerVillage.com Trish is also a partner with BeHerVillage, so you can add Trish's services directly to your registry.

In this episode of the BeHerVillage Podcast, Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of BeHerVillage talks with Jennie Joseph: globally recognized midwife, Founder and President of Commonsense Childbirth, Inc. and Director of the National Perinatal Task Force, and not to mention one of Time Magazine's Women of the Year for 2022.In this episode they talk about Jennie's journey through midwifery and how she's dedicated her life to making sure birthing folks are getting the safe and accessible care that they deserve.For more on Jennie and her work visit:PerinatalTaskForce.comCommonSenseChildbirth.orgJennieJoseph.comBeHerVillage.com is a gift registry where parents can register for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support-- instead of stuff. Create your free registry today.If you support new mamas you can create a profile at BeHerVillage.com/partners so new parents can put YOU onto their registry

In this episode, Kaitlin McGreyes, Founder of Be Her Village talks with Pediatrician Dr. Joel Warsh, aka Dr. Gator about how NOT to get sick (and the answer isn't to obsessively wash your hands). Dr. Gator talks about how lifestyle factors such as sleep and diet play a really important role in longterm health and wellness. As a pediatrician he blends his Western medical background with a naturopathic and holistic approach to help keep the kids (and families) in his practice healthy by valuing prevention of illness as much as the treatment of illness. Dr. Gator knows that as a pediatrician, he is one of the many components to a wellness team that has a positive effect on health and thriving.You can find Dr. Gator on IG at instagram.com/drjoelgatorWork with him by heading to his website: IntegrativePediatrics.comAnd sign up for his upcoming masterclass for keeping kids healthy: RaisingAmazingPlus.comTo set yourself up with a village for wellness for yourself and your new baby, create a registry at BeHerVillage.com and register for the services you want to keep yourself and your family thriving.*This and all episodes of the Be Her Village Podcast serves to educate based on personal stories and experiential information from practitioners, and is not to be used as medical advice. Please see your medical professional for specific advice pertaining to your unique experience.

In this episode we are diving deep into HOW we can ask for the support we need during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.And on the flip side, how do we show up as the support that others NEED rather than the way we *think* we should?As we've talked through the last few seasons of the podcast, we recognize that for so many birthing people, there is a tremendous lack of support, both personally and professionally, as they navigate the transition into parenthood.What's so important about this is recognizing that the support we need looks so different for each of us and for many of us that have this knowledge that something has to change. We're still not sure how to do that. How do we ask people what they want?  We feel awkward or uncomfortable sharing our skills, talents, or monetary support.  How do we show up and combat the rabid consumerism that is so prevalent in pregnancy and birth preparation and transition into something that creates a full spectrum of support for our loved ones and those who are in our care?To answer that question. We have Kaitlin McGreyes of Be Her Village coming on to explain the work she has done to make this process more accessible for birthing people and for their supporters, you will leave this episode, having so many more resources to offer to your clients and loved ones so they feel confident asking for the support that they need.Join us as we explore:~Lack of accessibility in healthcare resources~System failures to support new parents~Combatting our culture of consumerism~Trusting new parents to identify their unique needs~Community accountability and growth on the way to health equityLearn more about Kaitlin's work in her guest profile!Support the show (https://www.paypal.me/yourbirthpartners)

On this week's episode of the Be Her Village podcast Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village is talking with Kate Miller, founder of Mighty Milk— a company offering online video based breastfeeding classes for new and expectant parents.Breastfeeding can be hard, no matter how natural it may seem to be. t's not always as easy as:  have a baby  and then the baby latches— often there is struggle, trial and error. Most often, those who reach their breastfeeding goals are surrounded by support.Kate and Kaitlin talk about the struggles of breastfeeding, why partner involvement is so important, how to help a new mom who is breastfeeding, and what Kate offers in her online courses.If you're getting ready for baby and you're planning on breastfeeding, check out MightyMilk.co to get yourself and your partner as prepared as can be.And if you want to put breastfeeding support or any other kind of support on your baby registry— create your registry for free at BeHerVillage.com

We should be focused on the patient, where relationships are built and trust is formed between the person giving birth as well as the care providers. Maggie Runyon, Labor and Delivery nurse, birth advocate, and founder of Your Birth Partners (a nonprofit that aims to cultivate inclusive, collaborative birth care communities rooted in autonomy, respect, & equity) talks with Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village to answer the question: “If you could create change within the hospital system as is: how would you change it?”They talk about the disparities in the maternal healthcare system, how much of the systems that are in place were created to establish and maintain socioeconomic and racial separation, and what birth workers can do now to help from right where they are.Maggie wants to see the system  work to be more trauma informed and collaborative, where the people giving birth are put first before hospital policies.Learn more about Maggie and her mission at YourBirthPartners.orgIf you're ready to join Maggie in her mission, there's a Facebook group for you! https://www.facebook.com/groups/ybpcommunitySet yourself up for the most supported pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience when you register at BeHerVillage.com: where you can get the funds you need to pay for the support you deserve!

In this episode, Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks with Shravya Kovela, pelvic floor PT and business development manager for Flyte by Pelvital. We've said it before and we're going to keep saying it: you don't have to go through your life peeing your pants every time you sneeze, sex doesn't have to be painful, and you don't have to live with discomfort. There is help available no matter if you're newly pregnant, 4 months postpartum, a year, or 10 years postpartum.The subject of pelvic health and urinary incontinence can be embarrassing, uncomfortable, and since it hasn't been talked about enough, some women just don't know that there are tools for pelvic floor health.If you didn't get PT or didn't know about PT after birth— it's not your fault.Unfortunately we don't have the standard for pelvic floor that we do for other parts of the body and other procedures. If you have any other health event: there is a follow up procedure afterwards. The pelvic floor is this place where all of the major muscles in our body come together, so why are we ignoring it after pregnancy and giving birth?Many women don't have the access or the time to get the pelvic support they need, so Flyte is a tool for women to train their pelvic floor in just a few minutes a day.Not only is this company developing tools and research, they're also widely connected to Pelvic floor PT's so they can ensure each person who needs this kind of support can find a provider that works with them. Flyte by Pelvital is making it comfortable and easy to get assessed and get the tools needed to begin the journey to a healthy and strong pelvic floor.The Actual Product:Flyte is an internal device using mechanotherapy— using light mechanical pulses or oscillations to put load on the pelvic floor. It tells you if you're contracting and relaxing your muscles correctly. We didn't have a way to load our pelvic floor muscles, until Flyte. You don't need a prescription, and all it takes is 5 minutes a day to make lasting changes.If you're a physical therapist or other professional, head to FlyteTherapy.com and hit the tab titled “For Healthcare Professionals” to learn about mechanotherapy and be a connected part of their community.To learn more and to connect with Flyte:FlyteTherapy.com for info, content, and all things pelvic health related@flytetherapy on IGFlyte's Podcast: https://pelvicflooratitscore.podbean.comFlyte's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FlytebyPelvitalIf you're expecting a new baby head to BeHerVillage.com to create your gift registry to get the funds you need to pay for the support services you deserve.

Being a doula is heart led, it's working with families, it's caring for people, but not all doulas are equipped with the tools and experience to start a business. In this episode, Kaitlin McGreyes, Founder of Be Her Village interviews Darcy Sauers, better known as  Doula Darcy.Darcy is a postpartum doula and marketing expert who helps doulas start and maintain successful businesses.Kaitlin and Darcy are both in the business of helping women get the support they deserve. Darcy wants doulas to charge their worth and market themselves effectively to be able to help more moms, and Kaitlin wants to make it easy for the moms to afford their support teams.Their message for doulas and all birthworkers  is to remember that collaboration is more effective than competition.Darcy has tools for anyone who is looking to learn about marketing their doula business— from a free facebook group, to a paid 1:1 coaching package. You can learn more about her and all of her offerings here!If you're a doula or another birth worker and you're ready to offer your clients a new way to pay for your services, join Be Her Village and start your free business profile right here.And if you or someone you know is expecting a new baby, Be Her Village is the registry to get the funds you need to pay for the support you deserve.

Today we're chatting with Kaitlin McGreyes about the birth of her 3rd child, which was her first home birth. After a cesarean and then a hospital VBAC for her first two births, she decided to have a different experience for her third. Kaitlin was a doula for 2 years before her home birth. And interesting fact: in the beginning of her doula work, she was against home birth. We talk about the shifts in her thoughts about home birth and the reasons for having one for herself.  Plus really awesome conversations around the landscape of the birth world in general, and what she and her company Be Her Village are doing to help parents and families in getting the real support they need (like funding for their care provider, postpartum practitioners, mental health resources, etc.) as opposed to a bunch of extra toys and gear that they might not necessarily need.  From Kaitlin: “I had been a doula for 2 years. I had a cesarean for my first, vbac in hospital with my second (unmedicated) and I opted for a home birth for my third baby. I was expecting the birth to be EXACTLY like my vbac labor. and it was in terms of timing and how it started. Both started at 6am while I was in bed with small Braxton hicks that had a pinch at the peak. That's where the similarities ended. My 21 hour vbac was gentle and peaceful and spiritual. My home birth was moving faster than I expected. My midwife only made it because she was smart enough to come without me asking. And in under 6 hours I went from maybe being in labor to roaring my baby out in a half filled birth pool. I experienced FER and instead of pushing her out I was holding her back so I didn't tear. Unlike what you see on YouTube our home birth involved both of us screaming lol. It was fast and furious, much like my daughter.” Things we talk about in this episode: Cesarean birth Hospital VBAC Reasons for having a home birth Doula work influencing your own birthing choices Preparing for birth while you are pregnant Be Her Village registry Links: Be Her Village Website: https://www.behervillage.com/ Be Her Village Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behervillage/ Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU DIAH website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe  Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

Moms all around the world need more support. And Be Her Village is here to help. Be Her Village has put almost $30K straight into the pockets of parents to be able to purchase prenatal, birth and postpartum support and education. Tune into this conversation with Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village, an online gift registry to get you the funds you need for the support you want and deserve. Create your FREE support registry here: behervillage.com (You can add Unmedicated Academy!) See the Show Notes: https://www.fiercelizzie.com/podcast/37 As always, thank you so much for tuning in to The Birth Class Podcast! Let me know how you liked the podcast and if this episode was helpful to you, make sure to screenshot this episode and tag me (@fiercelizzie) so I can repost! Lastly, come say ‘hey'! at: https://www.instagram.com/fiercelizzie/ Join the VIP MOMs and get birth tips each week: https://www.fiercelizzie.com/vipmom Learn More About Unmedicated Academy, my full birth course for the mom who wants a powerful and positive hospital birth experience: https://www.fiercelizzie.com/unmedicatedacademy

In this episode Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks with mom-to-be Sam Bisagni about navigating the emotions, the family shifts, and why it's so important to maintain boundaries. As Kaitlin says in the episode “the work of birth is done right now”If you're a mom to be, like Sam, and want to set yourself set up with support instead of stuff, you can create your registry for free at BeHerVillage.comIf you works with expectant parents and want to offer your clients a new way to pay: Head to BeHerVillage.com/partners to join us!

On this episode of The Be Her Village Podcast, Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks with Lizzie Bolliger AKA Fierce Lizzie — self proclaimed fierce birth advocate who wants moms to be educated before they head into birth.After feeling frustrated and unsupported with providers after her first two births Lizzie became a doula and childbirth educator to help moms feel empowered and in control of their births.Lizzie's focus is on moms who want to have an unmedicated hospital birth. In this episode, Kaitlin and Lizzie talk about their birth experiences, the hospital system, and how moms can navigate it to take control of their experiences in pregnancy in birth.Unmedicated Academy is Lizzie's most popular course which has it all to get ready for an unmedicated hospital birth: lizziebolliger.comAND she's listed on Be Her Village so if you want to take Lizzie's course or any of her other offerings, you can pay for them when you register at BeHerVillage.com!Be Her Village is a gift registry where parents can ask for and receive the funds they need to pay for the support they deserve! Create your free registry today!

In this episode of the Be Her Village podcast, Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks with Mandy Major, founder of Major Care Doulas and MyFourth App— a virtual postpartum doula service where new parents have access to postpartum doula support anytime, anywhere.They chat about how important it is for the new mom to be supported and cared for— for the wellbeing of the new mom as well as the new baby. Having a postpartum doula gives a new mom the help she needs without the weight of a relationship attached to it. And it also keeps her from googling every question she has.Doulas aren't self indulgent, they're an important part of recovery for birthing people.If you want a postpartum doula in your pocket, check out MyFourth App by Major Care Doulas. Find her on instagram @majorcaredoulas and @doulamandy Read more from Mandy:https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/what-post-childbirth-care-looks-like-around-the-world-and-why-the-u-s-is-missing-the-markhttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/postpartum-support-mothers-united-states_n_60f42d83e4b01ba8eed7084bAnd for all of your other support systems, head to Be Her Village where you can get the cash you need for the support you deserve.If you're a doula or other support provider, join us!

In this episode of The Be Her Village Podcast, Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks with Emily Maretsky, an engineering teacher as well as a financial coach. She helps people feel empowered to take control of their finances .In this episode they talk about how to get your financials in order to pay for all the costs that come with starting a family.Emily breaks things down to be not intimidating and easy to digest so that even the newest newbie in the financial world can feel confident in getting started.You can find Emily and all of her info here!Be Her Village is a cash gift registry where soon-to-be parents can easily ask for and receive the funds they need for the support they DESERVE.Parents, start your free registry at BeHerVillage.comProviders— want a new way for your clients to pay for your services? Sign up at BeHerVillage.com/partners

Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks with Michelle Goitia of JC Bump and baby. Michelle leads prenatal and postpartum yoga classes and community groups for moms. She's based in Jersey City but now offers her group classes virtually.Before Michelle was even done with her class on prenatal yoga, she decided to quit her corporate job to join the world of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She entered first through  yoga, and then by becoming a doula. She quickly learned that what she loved to do was help new moms get ready for birth and the postpartum experience.They discuss the importance of creating connection for new moms in all stages as they transition from being pregnant, to birth, and then into motherhood.One of the things Michelle focuses on in her groups is helping moms to tune back into their intuition, encouraging them to be vocal about what they want and what they feel.We're all doing the best that we can, and we can do a little better when we're connected, educated, and equipped with the tools we need.Michelle is based in New Jersey, but offers virtual services as well. If you're pregnant and want to connect with Michelle, or use your Be Her Village registry to pay for her services, you can find her in the BHV registry guide.If you're pregnant and you're looking for a new kind of registry, one where you can get the funds you need for the support you deserve, look no further. Create your free registry today at BeHerVillage.com.And if you're like Michelle, helping parents in any stage of the pregnancy, birth or postpartum journey and you're looking for a new way to help your clients pay for your services, join us! 

Steph interviews Kaitlin McGreyes, mom of 3, doula, and founder of Be Her Village. Be Her Village is an online “baby registry” focused on supporting moms in the postpartum period. Imagine a baby registry where you can sign up for house cleaning services, doulas, lactation specialists, and even Steph's Postpartum Reset nutrition program! In the episode, Kaitlin shares why it's so important to prioritize mom's health postpartum, what types of services are available for new parents, how to know if someone is the right “fit” to support you postpartum, and her top tips for new parents to do and think about to set themselves up for success. This is a must-listen if you're preparing for your baby's arrival, are feeling weighed down by your to-do list as a mom, or want to learn how to support a friend who is expecting! Topics Discussed: Why moms need support more than “stuff” What types of services and support are available for new parents How to find the right team to support you How to overcome the feeling that you shouldn't need help Top tips for parents entering the postpartum period Show Notes: BeHerVillage.com Instagram.com/BeHerVillage facebook.com/groups/behervillage Listen to today's episode on our website Kaitlin McGreyes, mom of 3, doula, and founder of Be Her Village. Be Her Village is an online “baby registry” focused on supporting moms in the postpartum period. This Episode's Sponsors  Enjoy the health benefits of PaleoValley's products such as their supplements, superfood bars and meat sticks.  Receive 15% off your purchase by using code DOCTORMOM at checkout or head to paleovalley.com/doctormom  Discover for yourself why Needed is trusted by women's health practitioners and mamas alike to support optimal pregnancy outcomes. Try their 4 Part Complete Nutrition plan which includes a Prenatal Multi, Omega-3, Collagen Protein, and Pre/Probiotic. To get started, head to thisisneeded.com, and use code DOCTORMOM50 for $50 off Needed's Complete Plan! Light therapy is a rare treatment that really is one-size-fits-all. Busy moms can benefit from more healthy light in their lives. Light Therapy provides many health benefits like enhanced cellular function and ATP energy production, better skin, increased blood flow, better sleep and faster recovery after workouts. Visit joovv.com/doctormom and use code DOCTORMOM for $50 off your first purchase. INTRODUCE YOURSELF to Steph and Dr. Elana on Instagram. They can't wait to meet you! @stephgreunke @drelanaroumell Please remember that the views and ideas presented on this podcast are for informational purposes only.  All information presented on this podcast is for informational purposes and not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a healthcare provider. Consult with your healthcare provider before starting any diet, supplement regimen, or to determine the appropriateness of the information shared on this podcast, or if you have any questions regarding your treatment plan.

 Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village and Dr. Helene Darmanin, PT, DPT, CSCS get into  ALL of the common but NOT NORMAL things: from urinary incontinence, pain during sex, and the issues within our maternal healthcare system.We also drop a little hint about some upcoming excitement happening in October, so be sure to listen!This is the type of conversation that happens when you put two self-proclaimed fierce feminists together.Helene is a Licensed Physical Therapist, specializing in pelvic health, orthopedic, and obstetric physical therapy. She's the Founder and President of Mama Bear PT-- a completely virtual practice, supporting families and birthing people from pregnancy through postpartum.You can find her at her website here, AND you can put any of Dr. Helene's services on your custom registry by clicking here!***Shout out to Zayacare-- which is another platform dedicated to connecting families with providers and getting providers the pay they deserve. We're doing it on the gift end of things, they're doing it on the insurance end of it.This episode is one that makes you want to get up and do something to make some changes happen for birthing families and vagina owners!Enjoy!

In this week's episode of the Be Her Village Podcast, Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks with Andrea Costanzo, owner of Wonders Of My Belly (W.O.M.B.) an at home sonography experience. Andrea has been part of gender reveal parties, part of intimate moments with extended family and relatives, as well as being an integral part in keeping families connected to their sonogram experience during Covid. In this episode they talk about what the home sonography experience is like, that gender disappointment is a real and normal thing, and how WOMB is changing the way people connect to their bellies.You can find Andrea and her services on the Be Her Village gift registry.Let us know what you think of this episode!

In this Father's Day episode, Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks to Link Moser, Owner of Windhill Design and proud dad of five! They talk about how even after having multiple children, you still don't know quite what to expect or how your world will shift when you bring home a new baby.  Link acknowledges that there can be some emotional challenges as for dads while they navigating bonding with baby, caring for other children, as well as maintaining a healthy partnership with their partner. Link offers much wisdom to parents, and specifically dads. Some of his pieces of advice are:Acknowledge that parenthood and new-babyhood bring an array of feelings-- and that's normal!Make an investment in your partnershipMaintain an outlet to talk about parenthood Like this episode? Share it with a dad who could use Link's words of wisdom.Do us a favor and rate + review this podcast!And as always, if there's someone in your life who is expecting a baby, give them the best gift of all-- SUPPORT-- which is possible with the Be Her Village online cash gift registry.

Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village talks with Marisa Hughes, LCSW, Maternal Mental Health Specialist, and Trauma Specialist to learn more about birth trauma. Birth trauma doesn't necessarily mean scary and morbid (although in some cases it can), but birth trauma can be, simply, that your birth didn't go the way you planned.Marisa emphasizes the importance of maintaining flexibility in your birth plan as you head into birth, focusing on controlling the things you can, even when  there are many things you can't.We look at the questions: "How do I know if I've experienced birth trauma?""What do I do if I have birth trauma?"This conversation is rich with information to help new mamas prepare for birth as well as helping heal the mamas who might have had a traumatic birth.Marisa Hughes is one of many Maternal Mental Health Specialists listed on the Be Her Village Gift registry.Know a mama who might benefit from hearing this episode? Send it her way!Have a pregnant friend? Introduce them to the most innovative and practical baby registry around: BeHerVillage.com

As a part of the 2021 How I Built This Summit (At Home) we have selected 10 Fellows, and we'd like to introduce you to each of them. In this episode: Kaitlin McGreyes founded Be Her Village to be a gift registry for expectant families that provides more than just...stuff. And Nicole Argüelles founded Alli to address period poverty and provide easy access to personal care and hygiene products in public spaces.How I Built This Summit - information and tickets at:http://summit.npr.org

The good things that are coming out of quarantine, how we are forced to face our fears, and parallels between becoming a mother and the coronavirus. Tune in for validation, solidarity, and an inside look on how three mothers are coping with the pandemic. Join Laura Otton, Evelyn Page, and Kaitlin McGreyes as they discuss their experiences.

In this episode Laura Otton, LCSW and Be Her Village founder, Kaitlin McGreyes, discuss the implications of COVID-19 on maternal mental health.

Maternal Mental Health specialists Evelyn Page and Laura Otten sit down with Kaitlin McGreyes, founder of Be Her Village, to talk about week 6 of quarantine and how we can continue to cope with the ever evolving challenges of life in the time of COVID-19.

Sitting down with Ashley Meccariello, Gaia Midwife and best friend of Be Her Village founder, Kaitlin McGreyes. We laugh a whole lot and remember how we met and the challenges we faced on our way to becoming friends.